San Diego CityBeat • July 22, 2015

news

Environmentalists win Route 94 planning battle

MUSIC

High On Fire's metal burns with personal pain

2 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

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UP FRONT | FROM THE EDITOR

We haven’t seen the river card, yet

P

OKER ANALOGIES HAVE BEEN and continue to be appropriate in assessing the high-stakes game being played by the city of San Diego and the Chargers over new stadium siting and funding. Like Texas Hold-Em players, both sides are making misdirection moves that seemingly don’t make sense.

This page has called for the city to “up the ante” and “call the Chargers’ bluff” while going head-tohead in this ongoing game of chance. That advice, however, has been aimed at prompting the team and the deep-pocketed National Football League to push in more of their chips while also encouraging a strategy that the city use not one dime of taxpayer money to pay for any new construction.

A skilled poker player can sit at the table for hours, folding most of the hands dealt while waiting to play the right cards. So what happened recently? Chargers representative Mark Fabiani had gotten up from the game, complaining that San Diego wasn’t offering the right location or the proper timeline for a new stadium here. Fabiani’s chips are still on the table in the San Diego poker room. But he’s making sure we see him eyeing the higher-risk/ higher-reward game up in Carson.

In response, San Diego has made a seemingly out-of-position bet. Mayor Kevin Faulconer and his advisors proposed spending $2.1 million to get a quickie environmental impact report (EIR) done on the Mission Valley site. The reasoning: When the NFL owners meet next month to discuss all the cities that are playing cards with other teams in the league—each angling to score a jackpot in Los Angeles—the league honchos will see how serious San Diego is, and decree that the Chargers stay put.

With Fabiani absent from the table, says mayoral spokesperson Matt Awbrey, the city is dealing with the NFL. However, it’s unconscionable that the city is spending $2.1 million of taxpayer money (even if it’s found money from the state, and/or a transferable cost) on a gamble, rather than on tangible infrastructure or public services.

Feeling lucky, the San Diego City Council voted 6-3 to approve this bet. The gamblers include all the Republicans (Lorie Zapf, Mark Kersey, Chris Cate and Scott Sherman) and Democrats Myrtle Cole and Sherri Lightner.

“People might say this is a fool’s errand,” Sherman told the San Diego Union-Tribune. But Sherman, whose district includes Mission Valley, says he has faith the right deal will get the Chargers back to the table.

Meanwhile, a SurveyUSA news poll shows more locals—even hardcore fans—think the EIR is a bad idea; and, that Comic-Con is more important to the city than the Chargers.

Justin DeCesare, running to unseat Sherman for the District 7 council seat, says, “The vote to spend $2.1 million on an EIR for a new football stadium is an irresponIMAGES MONEY / FLICKR sible waste of taxpayer funds that are desperately needed for rebuilding our neighborhood’s aging infrastructure.” He calls it a political boondoggle and says it’s “just another example of putting special interests ahead of taxpayer interests.”

District 1’s Lightner, who voted for the EIR, is termed out. Barbara Bry, a Democratic candidate for Lightner’s, seat would have voted differently. Bry says “…it’s simply good business to have an agreement in place with a financing plan before you spend $2.1 million in tax dollars on an EIR.” Agreed. So what’s next?

Oh, the poker game is still on. Logic and probability say the Chargers are Carson-bound. But there are still cards to be flipped. So don’t be surprised when the NFL postpones a vote on allowing teams to petition to move to Los Angeles, and a revised plan to build a downtown San Diego stadium, funded in large degree by taxing tourists, floats to the fore.

Yes, that’s a prediction, based on what seems the most unlikely next scenario.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com

—Ron Donoho

This issue of CityBeat is never ever swimming in the ocean again.

Volume 13 • Issue 50 EDITOR Ron Donoho MUSIC EDITOR Jeff Terich ARTS EDITOR Kinsee Morlan STAFF WRITER Joshua Emerson Smith WEB EDITOR Ryan Bradford ART DIRECTOR Carolyn Ramos COLUMNISTS Aaryn Belfer, Edwin Decker, John R. Lamb, Alex Zaragoza

CONTRIBUTORS David L. Coddon, Seth Combs, Beth Demmon, Andrew Dyer, Tiffany Fox, Michael A. Gardiner, Glenn Heath Jr., Peter Holslin, Jessica Johnson, Scott McDonald, Jenny Montgomery, Susan Myrland, Chad Peace Jim Ruland, Ben Salmon, Tom Siebert, Jen Van Tieghem, Amy Wallen PRODUCTION MANAGER Tristan Whitehouse PRODUCTION ARTIST Rees Withrow MULTIMEDIA ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Paulina Porter-Tapia

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July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 3

4 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

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UP FRONT | LETTERS

ART WITH HEART Wow, Kinsee Morlan, stunning cover feature on Kathleen Mitchell [“A painful passion,” July 1], her glass work, her trauma, her being. I am so glad you stayed with CityBeat. This latest will win an award.

ON THE

COVER

Bonnie Bekken, Normal Heights

DIVIDED OPINION This week’s article from Mr. Peace [Will the Motor-Voter Act drive participation?” July 15] is so full of holes in fact and logic, so circular in its reasoning that it needs another week’s worth of editing and iterated revision. He can do better, I hope.

Tom Edwards, North Park

SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS Read a story in San Diego CityBeat that inspired you to add your two cents? We welcome letters to the editor that respond to, or follow up on, news stories, columns or opinion pieces that have run in these pages. Send an email to editor Ron Donoho at rond@sdcitybeat.com.

For your letters to be considered, you must include your first and last name, and the part of town where you reside.

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CityBeat had to stop traffic to get this week’s cover shot by Jeff “Turbo” Corrigan (jeffcorriganphoto. com). And believe it or not, the artists and activists pictured on the cover aren’t the only folks behind the ongoing renaissance of one inspired block of Logan Avenue. Those who were able to make the impromptu shoot in the middle of the street include members of The Roots Factory, La Bodega Gallery & Studios, thChrch, La Esquina, Orso Art, San Diego Taco Company, ¡Salud!, Chicano Art Gallery, Logan Avenue Business Association, Por Vida and Border X Brewing. Not everybody could make the photo shoot, but enough people made it to successfully communicate that there is a big, passionate community behind this effort in Barrio Logan.

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 5

Up Front | News

joshua emerson smith

BY JOSHUA EMERSON SMITH

E

nvironmental advocates for public transportation recently celebrated a significant, if symbolic, victory in a battle over the region’s 35-year, $200 billion Regional Transportation Plan. Bowing to public pressure, planning officials announced last week that they would consider scaling back the proposed expansion of a major traffic corridor for downtown commuters.

This is a “very special moment,” said Monique Lopez, policy advocate with the Environmental Health Coalition, at Friday’s San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Transportation Committee meeting.

A parade of positive public testimony ensued after officials stated they would study community-based alternatives to freeway expansion along state Route 94, as well as adding a bus stop for the adjacent residents of Golden Hill and Sherman Heights.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to read a transportation committee agenda,” said Randy Van Vleck, organizer with the City Heights Community Development Corporation, at the meeting. “This is a huge deal.”

The announcement came after more than a year of community organizing, a petition with hundreds of signatures challenging the original plan and an avalanche of critical letters from public officials, including from San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria, who also chairs the agency’s transportation committee.

“This is a big step forward to really look at creative solutions,” Gloria told the crowd.

The councilmember’s District 3 includes the impacted area of Golden Hill.

Representing District 8, which includes Sherman Heights, David Alvarez said he was “pleased” with the decision, adding, “It is critical with this half-billion-dollar

6 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

investment that we ensure we put forth the best plan for all.”

The project—part of a planned rapidbus network running between downtown and the Otay Mesa border crossing—will add an elevated ramp for buses and carpooling connecting Route 94 to Interstate 805 to the south.

As part of the roughly $600 million undertaking, officials planned to include a new express lane in each direction along Route 94. However, advocates balked at the idea, arguing that would increase pollution and make it harder for the city and region to meet climate-change goals.

Instead, critics argued the new ramp should touch down onto existing lanes, repurposed as express lanes. In response, officials said they would study a so-called “general lane conversion” in an upcoming environmental impact report on the project.

However, that doesn’t mean the planning agency will implement any of the community-based alternatives. Once the environmental document is complete, the transportation committee will evaluate the merits of each alternative on Route 94, and removing an existing general-purpose lane may prove unpopular.

“That freeway’s already really congested at peak hours,” Gary Gallegos, executive director of SANDAG, told CityBeat. “But yeah, we are going to go study how [a general-lane conversion] would work and what impacts that would have.”

At the same time, in order to safely create a new bus stop in the area, official have said they would need to accelerate a similar project connecting Route 94 and Interstate 15 to the north by about 20 years. The feasibility of that alternative will also be studied in the environmental document, which is now expected no sooner than early next year.

“

This is a very real change and a very real shift in thinking

by SANDAG...

“

Under intense community pressure, officials will study alternatives to state Route 94 expansion

Gallegos downplayed the debate around Route 94, saying such disagreements over planning are commonplace in the region.

“Not more than a year or so ago, we were having this same debate on [Interstate] 5,” he said. “We had that same debate on I-805. So I don’t know if this is unique. The issue of ‘are we meeting our [climate] targets,’ every project that we have is under that microscope.”

Over recent months, SANDAG officials have repeatedly argued proposed community-based alternatives on Route 94 were all but impossible because the funding largely came from Transnet—a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2004, which calls for the addition of “high-occupancy vehicle” lanes along Route 94.

Planning officials have now said they will not only study the new alternatives, but they will launch a more than $30 million pilot project to allow rapid-bus service along certain freeway shoulders. The idea was initially looked at by SANDAG as an alternative to freeway expansion. But it wasn’t brought to the public’s attention until the Environmental Health Coalition obtained an internal study of the project earlier this year.

“SANDAG has broad flexibility to implement Transnet in a way that is more friendly to transit then they have been willing to admit,” said Colin Parent, policy counsel for the transportation think tank Circulate San Diego, which released a study on the issue last week called Transnet Today.

With new emerging funding sources, the “We’re slowing down this [project] so study argues, the sales tax can be modified that ultimately the policymakers can see a by a two-thirds vote of the SANDAG board more holistic picture,” Gallegos said.

The campaign to curb the freeway ex- to adequately meet the region’s transit pansion and build a new bus stop in the needs. A review of the ordinance is manarea has echoed growing pressure on the dated every 10 years, with the next review planning agency to put off car-centric proj- scheduled for 2019.

“Many of us have been advocating for ects and build more public transit.

Before public comment closed earlier SANDAG to put a greater priority on tranthis month on a five-year update to the Re- sit,” Parent said. “And that doesn’t necessarily gional Transportation Plan, environmen- have to mean never building another freeway, talists flooded SANDAG with letters blast- but it certainly means using the funding flexibility that they have to make ing the agency for failing those transit investments as to draft a plan aimed at early as possible.” achieving an 80-percent However, getting a tworeduction in greenhousethirds majority of the 19gas emissions by 2050, set member SANDAG board to

by Gov. Jerry Brown in revise Transnet may be poApril. litically infeasible. Many of Along the same lines, the elected officials that sit the state Supreme Court on the board represent subhas taken up review of the urban areas that favor sprawl agency’s transportation and auto-centric planning. plan after several lower “In many cases there’s court rulings found the not as much flexibility as document didn’t properly they perceive,” Gallegos address state-mandated standards for reducing greenhouse-gas said. However, at the same time, he also hesitated to use the sales tax as an excuse emissions.

While SANDAG officials still maintain for limiting options on the Route 94 project: the agency’s not bound by the state mandate, “I don’t want to equate it to ‘this can’t hapadvocates celebrated Friday’s announce- pen because of Transnet.’”

Public transportation and environmental ment as a turning point in the ideological advocates have targeted a freeway expansion war over how San Diegans commute.

“I think this is a very real change and a project surrounded by dense urban neighvery real shift in thinking by SANDAG in borhoods represented by some of the region’s response to the community input,” said Joe most progressive leaders. Forcing officials to LaCava, chair of the Community Planners adopt a transit-first approach would look like Committee, which represents local commu- a victory for many. However, if the campaign doesn’t succeed, it’s unclear where else in the nity planning groups on citywide issues.

“The engineering has been there,” he region such a fight could. added. “It’s really the policy shift that’s moWrite to joshuas@sdcitybeat.com. mentous at this moment in time.”

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Up Front | opinion

Spin

John R. Lamb

Cycle Ethics Commission spat goes public Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.

—Louis Brandeis

H

e is a mayor who is all smiles publicly. But the latest City Hall fracas facing Kevin Faulconer likely has evoked a private frowny face or two.

At the center of the tempest is the mayor’s old pal, attorney Robert Ottilie, who by press time was among a half-dozen names put forth for four available seats on the seven-member San Diego Ethics Commission, based on memos provided by the mayor’s office.

(The deadline for filing nominations—which can come from city councilmembers and the City Attorney’s office—is Friday.)

Any time a majority of mem-

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bers on a city board of this import are up for grabs, it’s certain that wild stories will come a-flyin’.

This, by any stretch of the imagination, is no exception.

Spin Cycle first caught wind of the controversy when it was revealed that Andrew Poat had abruptly resigned from the commission on July 1—only 18 months into his first four-year term.

“I appreciate the appointment and confirmation to the Ethics Commission made last year by the San Diego City Council—of which, you were a member at the time,” Poat wrote in his resignation letter to Faulconer. “I inaugurated my term on the Commission with the full understanding that membership would limit any personal candidacy both during the term of my Commission membership— and for one year thereafter.

“Commission staff has now advised me that my membership also limits my capacity to work on behalf of a regional infrastructure

funding proposal that has been a personal focus for several years.

As you know, regional growth forecasts anticipate the need for 230,000 housing units and 100,000 new jobs by mid-century to sustain our regional quality of life. I believe this challenge is among the most important policy issues our region faces.”

Concluded Poat: “Given this unfortunate need to prioritize between avenues of public service, I believe the infrastructure commitment to be the more important—and, therefore, resign from the Commission effective today, July 1, 2015.”

Poat declined to speak publicly beyond his resignation letter, but it raises a couple of interesting issues.

First, his reference to “any personal candidacy” doesn’t jibe with the waiver all new commissioners are required to sign that says, in part, “I support the City’s concern regarding members of the Ethics

Stacy Fulhorst

Bob Ottilie

Commission becoming engaged in political activity [emphasis added], and I therefore agree to comply with the restrictions...”

Secondly, the “regional infrastructure funding proposal” appears to be a direct reference to a looming Transnet sales-tax-hike proposal under consideration by the San Diego Association of Governments, the regional planning agency. If so, this would appear to be a county measure, and therefore beyond the jurisdiction of the city’s Ethics Commission.

The upshot? Poat arguably could have remained a commission member while working on the sales-tax ballot measure for 2016, commission observers suggest.

But his resignation and the expired terms of three other commissioners would seem ripe for political shenanigans. And the rumors, they did come flooding out as if prompted by the recent thunderous downpours.

Local Republican Party officials, angered by greater restrictions on campaign limits and bans on vendor credits and the use of candidate videos by television-adhungry independent committees, were seeking a slate of sympathetic candidates, the whispers went.

Poat—who got in hot water last year over online comments that appeared to endorse Councilmember Lorie Zapf’s candidacy—resigned as part of an orchestrated effort to lock in a more-candidatefriendly commission, the reasoning continued.

T.J. Zane, a Poway school board member and executive director of the local Republican Party, teamed up with party Chairman Tony Krvaric to revamp the commission, the rumors persisted. Zane, the theory went, is still angered by the $3,000 fine the commission levied against him and a political consultant. Investigators determined that forms filed by a committee supporting Blanca Lopez Brown in her city council race against eventual winner Myrtle Cole had neglected to note Zane’s role. Zane attributed the violation to “two clerical errors,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reported in April.

Zane seemed humored by the rumors. “I love a good conspiracy theory as much as anyone,” he told

Spin in an email, “but truth be told I have very little interest in what goes down at the San Diego Ethics Commission anymore—and I’m not even angry [regarding] the fine.”

But if he’s over it, his concluding sentence might give pause: “The EC exists to pursue clerical errors, and that’s exactly what they tracked down after two years.”

Ottilie is no stranger to commissioners, nor to the commission’s tough-as-nails executive director, Stacey Fulhorst, who was quoted in a UT story last week that said she would resign if Ottilie is chosen.

“He has no regard for any type of rules, and it would be so difficult to have any type of civil discourse with Mr. Ottilie’s involvement, that at least probably two commissioners would resign, as would most of the commission staff, me included,” Fulhorst said, apparently during a session with the paper’s editorial board, at which a reporter typically attends.

Both Fulhorst and Ottilie declined to discuss publicly the apparent animosity between the two, but former commissioner and current City Attorney candidate Gil Cabrera responded to a question from a UT editorial writer on Twitter that “we should work very hard not to politicize the Ethics Commission.

Unfortunately, I think putting Bob on it would do just that.”

Even a recent editorial in the conservative UT seemed to agree.

Under the headline “Trio tries to monkey-wrench Ethics Commission,” the paper argued that rather than “impair its normal functioning,” Ottilie’s nominating troika of councilmembers Scott Sherman, Marti Emerald and Myrtle Cole should “mount a campaign to win changes in the panel’s operation and leadership.”

Then the paper turned to the man who hates sticky wickets and argued for Ottilie’s rejection—“if Kevin Faulconer wants an Ethics Commission that’s not consumed by grudges and infighting.”

Grudges? Infighting? Is the mayor dealing with anything else these days?

Spin Cycle appears every other week. Write to johnl@sdcitybeat. com.

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 7

Up Front | Opinion

Aaryn Belfer

Backwards & in

high heels

A white person’s guide to activism “The battle is and always has been a battle for the hearts and minds of white people in this country. The fight against racism is our issue. It’s not something that we’re called on to help people of color with. We need to become involved with it as if our lives depended on it because really, in truth, they do.”

— Anne Braden

D

ead is final. And Sandra Bland is dead.

The 28-year-old black activist was driving to her new job in Texas on July 10 when she was stopped by police for changing lanes without indicating. Truth: Black people have zero margin for error. This ridiculous traffic stop ended with Bland’s arrest and, two days later, what police claim was her suicide. Setting aside her controversial death, what preceded Bland’s detainment is itself an urgent human rights issue.

If you haven’t watched the video of her arrest, you should (and don’t miss the vids of her alive and vibrant, speaking out against police brutality, remembering while you watch that she’s dead because of it).

If you haven’t watched Walter Scott being shot in the back; or Freddie Gray having his neck broken; or the unambiguous assault and harassment—first by grown adults and then by a police officer—of children (let’s not get that point twisted) who did nothing more than attend an endof-school pool party; if you have chosen to avert your eyes because it hurts too much, I invite you to get up and over yourself and schedule a date night with YouTube.

Such videos are calamitous but crucial in helping deniers, dismissers and apologists acknowledge as real the experiences of black people. We must then become allies or—as adoption- and anti-racist activist Dr. JaeRan Kim recently framed it—interrupters.

During the Underground Railroad, a light in the window of a home signified a safe “station” (hat tip to interrupters Sarah and Bernard Gilpin of Maryland). After hearing from many white friends and acquaintances who have had quite enough but are unsure of how to channel their despair and grief, I decided to list a few ways to put the light in the window: 1. Put a Black Lives Matter sign in your yard. Yes, it will get stolen and defaced. Get another one. Encourage neighbors to do the same.

2. Engage with your white friends and family about racism, white fragility and white supremacy.

These will be uncomfortable, daunting, treacherous conversations. Will you get it right every time?

No. Will people drop out of your life? Yes. But you can learn, adjust, move forward. What is important is staying in the conversation.

3. Get informed. Read The Warmth of Other Suns

by Isabel Wilkerson or The Half Has Never Been

Told by Edward Baptist, or The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander. Get knocked the fuck out with Between The World And Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Read anything by Coates for that matter. Start reading. The well is deep.

4. Talk with your children about racism, skipping the sunshiny lie of colorblindness. Include discussions of who has privilege, who doesn’t and why.

Talk frankly about who you eat with, who you pray with, who you love; discuss who is and isn’t part of those intimate groups and why that is. Provide books that feature black characters and characters of color and talk about them. A few of so many greats: Please, Baby Please; Shades of Black; Amazing Grace; Black is Brown is Tan; and Tar Beach are beautiful options for the littles. Brown Girl Dreaming, One Crazy Summer, and any of the Ruby and the Booker Boys series for the middles and olders.

5. Form partnerships with people of color at your child’s school and agitate for equity.

6. Speak up whenever you hear a comment or joke that disparages any marginalized community.

7. Write op-eds and/or letters to the editor. The ever-present story of injustice and violence equals endless opportunities to take a public stance. Let the sparks fly from your fingertips and hit that send button to correct the abundant and widely-accepted use of sanitized and coded language under the pretense of fair and balanced reporting.

8. Urge your local and national LGBTQQIA organizations to bring their energy and activism to the Black Lives Matter movement. The hard-won right to marry didn’t happen without the support of the privileged majority. Pressure them to pay it forward.

9. Call/write the local city officials in any of the cities where violence against black people is documented (there are so many). Urge them toward systemic change and accountability.

10. Get involved with Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), a national network of white people who stand for black and brown lives. There are local contacts in every city, including San Diego. One guess as to whom ours is…

11. Seek out your local black-led organizations to find out what they are doing, and more importantly, what they need. Talk less, listen more. Attend rallies and protests, but don’t take the mic. Don’t coopt the message. Follow their lead.

Whatever you do, don’t do nothing.

Be an up-stander, not a bystander. Be an interrupter. Leave your porch light on. For Sandra Bland.

For the Sandra Blands to come.

“

Talk with your children about racism, skipping the sunshiny lie of colorblindness.

“

8 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

Backwards & In High Heels appears every other week.

Write to aaryn@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | Food

by michael a. gardiner

the world

fare

A tough take on Punjabi Tandoor

S

ports commentator Jim Rome has the catchphrase “Have a take and don’t suck.”

But when it comes to Punjabi Tandoor (9235 Activity Road, Suite 111) in Miramar, it’s strangely difficult to form a definitive take.

It is no accident that for more than two years of writing for CityBeat, I have not written up an Indian restaurant, until now. While I love the flavors and enjoy the cuisine, it is not one I cook frequently. I appreciate it but don’t know it firsthand.

Punjabi Tandoor might not have been an obvious choice for my first Indian review, situated as it is in Miramar’s lowrise, light-industrial business park hell. The space would more likely figure to house a sandwich joint or taco shop.

And yet it might just be those precise circumstances that combine to make Punjabi what it is, with its crowded, almost cultish following.

Let’s be clear about what Punjabi Tandoor isn’t: a great restaurant. It also is not a bad one. Perhaps the best summary of the place is that it’s maddeningly inconsistent. Sometimes the food is complex and multilayered. Sometimes it seems simple and overly creamed or like it sat too long in a steam table.

Take, for example, the mushroom masala. On one trip the mushrooms were flaccid—even difficult to distinguish from a canned product. On another trip they were toothsome and perfect, the peas bright and sweet and the sauce savory, complex and deep without overpowering the mushrooms. I would happily eat that mushroom masala every day of my life.

The lamb rogan josh was another good choice featuring tender chunks of lamb in a sauce that

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was a bit spicier than its creamy appearance suggested. The thing that makes this dish is the precisely layered ground spices, some aromatic and some hot (though not the searing heat of Southern Indian chiles). The lamb was one dish that was excellent every time I went.

Chicken makhani (butter chicken), a classic Punjabi dish, was less to my liking. While marinating chicken in yogurt and soft spices added something to the buttery flavors it just seemed like a long drink of butter. Saag paneer—another Punjabi dish—was better, light and fresh with a hint of lemon brightening the flavor profile.

Punjabi Tandoor’s presentations were crude: rice plopped on a compartmentalized container with each of the dishes dumped, side-by-side, running into each other. Strangely, though, it was oddly attractive and seemed to capture some of what the place was about. It was a kind of beauty one does not expect to find in industrial park hell.

Michael A. Gardiner

Two meats, two vegetables and rice combo While Punjabi Tandoor’s food is neither good nor bad enough for me to form a definitive take, at the end of the day it brings something unique to the industrial park. Whether the food was good, or less so, it somehow still had character. Hopefully that’s enough of a take not to suck.

The World Fare appears weekly.

Write to michaelg@sdcitybeat.com.

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 9

Up Front | Food

by ron donoho ron donoho

urban

eats

The patio power of Rustic Root

L

ocation, location…elevation. It’s been a few months since Rustic Root (535 Fifth Ave.) opened downtown in the space recently left vacant by Marble Room. The first-floor restaurant seems to be doing an OK business. But Rustic Root’s just-opened, top-floor, open-air patio is what’s going to be the straw that stirs up the drinking and dining crowd.

It’s the only rooftop-dining venue in the Gaslamp Quarter. To a downtowner, that distinction holds cachet. It’s not that I want to look down on other restaurants in the city’s entertainment district. A rooftop eatery on Fifth Avenue, however, is an angle I want and need to explore.

The second-floor construction site had been bugging me for some time. Weeks ago, I went into the ground-floor dining room and tried out the food and the ambiance. On the latter, headshaking bewilderment at the life-sized diorama featuring deer in a forest. Too rustic. It’s like a bad Midwest flashback to stop you made at a Cabela’s

10 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

retail hunting shop.

Conversely, the use of hundreds of kitchen colanders of varied sizes hung as ceiling lamps (sans Bambi) was a thumbs-up idea.

The menu at Rustic Root was constructed by one of my favorite 92101centric chefs. Antonio Friscia has more than two decades of urban experience, including stints at Stingaree and Gaijin Noodle & Sake House. He still oversees the kitchen for The rooftop at Rustic Root RMD Group’s Don Chido restaurant, conveniently located next-door to Rustic Root.

Friscia does surf and turf equally well. There are at least three ways on the menu to quell a lobster fix—order it as a lunch roll, get the Cobb salad or ask for the mouth-watering dinner entrée lobster pappardelle, prepared with oven-roasted tomatoes, spinach, corn and sherry cream. Per the turf: Check out the meatballs made of ground bison, and the elk chops with almond chili puree.

I ventured to the roof the night Comic-Con closed shop. It was crowded, but nary an intoxicated cosplayer had beamed up. I sat at the bar and ordered firecracker shrimp. The hot sriracha aioli complemented a sweet mango drizzle (but the heat tastily won the battle).

When a spot along the street-side railing opened up, I made a beeline. Gin-and-tonic carefully tucked in hand, I peered up and down the Gaslamp. The sun had set, and you could feel a breeze that doesn’t make its way back to the interior bar. Across the street: The Field. Yonder, to the right: Barleymash. Been there. Like ’em, but done that. Never seen them from this angle, though. In the same way a kid enjoys the backyard view better from a brand-new treehouse, I smiled with satisfaction.

Urban Eats appears every other week.

Write to rond@sdcitybeat.com.

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Up Front | Drink

the

beerdist Sipping in Santee

I

t’s all too easy to find yourself only drinking certain beer, or only visiting certain breweries. There’s too much good beer in San Diego County to allow anybody—you or me—to fall into traps of habit and convenience. So I recently eschewed the beaten path and headed east into the wild hinterlands of Santee.

On the far side of Santee, BNS Brewing and Distilling Company (10960 Wheatlands Ave.) is on another planet compared to most San Diego breweries. As a Texas transplant, I feel pretty confident declaring BNS the most “Texas” place in San Diego County. Signs at the saloon-style gate warn motorcycle clubs to remove vests and colors. An oversized American flag hanging from the rafters and the live band on stage made me feel as though I’d stepped into a Toby Keith video. The tasting room is saloon and wild-west themed, with decorative sixshooters adorning the bar and signs on the wall declaring “We don’t call 911.” But for all this wild-west kitsch, the beer at BNS, served in mason jars, proved to be on-target. The Saloon Girl saison and Revolver IPA were quite good, as was their Gatling Gun imperial stout. BNS is a real change of pace yet meets the high standards of quality that San Diego beer lovers demand.

Pacific Islander Beer Company (8665 Argent St.) has just opened. Far different from BNS, it has a tiki-and-teak themed patio that’s covered in bright green turf. Inside, the island theme continues both in décor and with pipedin Hawaiian music. It’s only just had its soft

#SDCityBeat

by andrew dyer

opening, so there were only three beers available, but one of the best reasons to visit breweries when they first open is getting to try early batches of new recipes. Its full line-up should be on tap by September.

Twisted Manzanita Brewing (10151 Prospect Ave.) just celebrated its five-year anniversary, and offers a more traditional tasting-room experience. Santee’s most established brewery is best known for its Chaotic double IPA. Weighing in at 9.7 percent ABV, it could be considered a triple, depending on your marketing strategy.

The experimental beer list here makes Twisted Manzanita a mustandrew dyer stop on any trip to East County.

Tucked in just down the road from Twisted Manzanita, and occupying its original brew space, is Butcher’s Brewing (9962 Prospect Ave.).

The tasting room is on the small side, which contributes to a cozier, more personal experience. Its IPAs are flavorful, aromatic concoctions crafted to highlight cerPacific Islander Beer Company tain ingredients, like the Select Rye IPA and Nelson-hopped Free Range IPA. While I’m not a fan of Hefeweizens, Butcher’s Hubba Bubba Hefe was a revelation that challenged my idea of what was possible with the style.

This quartet of tasting rooms showed me that an independent creativity and entrepreneurial spirit resides in Santee. What East County might lack in hip trendiness, it more than makes up for in diversity and quality.

The Beerdist appears every other week.

Write to andrewd@sdcitybeat.com.

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 11

Up Front | places

by jessica johnson

hidden

san diego Cara Knott’s solemn memorial place

T

he 1986 murder of 20-year-old Cara Knott by on-duty California Highway Patrol officer Craig Peyer was a case that shook San Diego like an earthquake. It frightened female drivers, horrified parents who wanted to believe their daughters were safe in the community and engendered a gut-level distrust of police. The killing still evokes a visceral reaction from San Diegans; it was every bit as shocking back in 1986 as was the Chelsea King murder that brought the region to its knees in 2009.

One tangible manifestation of the Knott tragedy is the San Diego Crime Victims Oak Garden, located near the site where Knott’s body was dumped, just northeast of the intersection of Interstate 15 and Mercy Road.

The creative force behind the oak garden concept was Knott’s grieving father, Sam, who lobbied for the better part of a decade to have the area dedicated to his daughter. His work reached fruition in 1996 when the site was dedicated as the Cara Knott Memorial Oak Garden. It was re-dedicated in 1999 as the San Diego Crime Victims Memorial Garden. That year, Sam Knott transplanted scores of oak saplings that the family had grown from acorns in their back yard.

Since its dedication, the park has grown into an oasis where the lives of dozens of victims of violent crimes are commemorated. Family and friends of victims gather here to process their thoughts.

People have left all sorts of memorials to victims of senseless violence. There are colorfully decorated rocks and stones that bear the names of lost loved ones, some painted with birth dates or other remembrances. Some of the oak trees have bronze nameplates, also engraved with memorialized notes. It’s a solemn place that evokes a rush of feelings. Some people have reported paranormal experiences here.

12 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

Colorful memorials

To reach the park, exit I-15 at the Mercy Road/ Scripps Poway Parkway exit. Go east and make a U-turn at Scripps Highland Drive (300 yards from the freeway), and take the first right into Cara Way and proceed north to the park.

To see more off-the-beaten-path places in San Diego, go to hiddensandiego.net.

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EVENTS

SHORTlist

the

THREE YOU HAVE TO SEE

1

KINSEE MORLAN

FREEDOM TO FRINGE

The cool—and simultaneously not so cool—thing about the San Diego International Fringe Festival is that anything goes. Seriously, one of the rules of the annual fest includes no judgment or curation from the organizers. None. At all.

“Someone could just poop in a box and still be in a festival,” laughs Kevin Charles Patterson, executive director and founder of the Fringe Festival. “I’m not kidding; I actually saw that in Amsterdam once.”

For the record, no one’s defecating in a box at the upcoming 11-day festival happening Thursday, July 23, through Sunday, Aug. 2.

Instead, San Diego’s creative community has been given the license to unleash its unfettered creativity. There’ll be dance (lots of dance, actually), circus (plenty of that, too), performance art, monologues, cabaret, physical theater and more experimental performances happening at a smattering of downtown venues, plus a few happening in strange and unexpected places around town.

“There was a bring-your-own-venue option for performers,” Patterson says. “So, for example, there’s a BYOV at the natural history museum on the roof.

There’s a BYOV at a hostel downtown. There’s even a BYOV at Les Girls, the adult dance club.”

Scanning through all the Fringe shows listed on the website is overwhelming. There’s the fun-

2

COORDINATED BY

DINNER AND A CIRCUS

East Village isn’t the first neighborhood you’d call to mind for a night of dinner theater. But imagine the theater aspect being circus performers, some on aerial rigs, telling an interactive story with the audience. That’s the rough sketch of “Symposium,” a pop-up art production from a new local troupe called Cirko Teleskóptico. For dinner, the gig is catered by gourmet food truck, God Save The Cuisine. Symposium takes place at Silo in Makers Quarter (753 15th St.), the perfect outdoor, urban location for this phantasmagoric offering. The two-and-ahalf-hour, multi-media shows happen at 8 p.m.

Friday, July 24, and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 25. Tickets (which include a four-course dinner) start at $60. Cirkoteleskoptico.com KATYA KHASKIN

Slideshow Fairytales: William the Snowman, a one-man show by Catfish Baruni ny-sounding My Mother’s in the Audience, a dark comedy about the insanity of stage mothers by 17-year-old Jacob Surovsky; a hip-hop dance performance by bkSOUL; a theatrical variety show by Circus Mafia; and much more. Patterson says the best way to approach the jam-packed schedule is to keep an open mind and just try things that sound compelling.

“I hope San Diego audiences do take risks and see what’s being created by their own neighbors,” he says. “And I would also encourage people to see the national and international artists who are traveling here for the festival. But basically, if you’re into the arts at all you have to go to experience things you normally wouldn’t.” sdfringe.org

3

WALK THIS WAY

If you’ve ever been hiking, you might’ve picked up a fallen tree branch as a temporary walking aid. Serious hikers probably own official hiking sticks with souvenir badges nailed to the handle. But there’s more to a walking stick than function. On Saturday, July 25, Mingei International Museum in Balboa Park opens Carved and Whittled Sculpture, an exhibition celebrating the cultural influences and personalities in more than 100 American-made walking sticks. Featuring hand-carved and painted sticks created in 29 states during the 1800s and 1900s, the exhibit will be on view through January 2016 as part of Mingei’s American Icons series. Admission is $10 for adults. mingei.org JESSE HILL

Walking sticks from the Hill Collection

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July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 13

EVENTS ART HLindu and Friends at David Alan Collection, 241 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach.

A showcase of contemporary works from Indonesian artists Lindu Prasekti, Ronny Lampah, Yustoni Volunteero and Ridi Winarnofood. Includes music from Gilbert Castellanos and friends. Opening from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 22. 858-4818044, thedavidalancollection.com HMaletas Migrantes at New Americans Museum, 2825 Dewey Road, Point Loma.

Suitcases made by 50 contemporary Mexico-based artists designed to bring attention to the geographic and emotional crossings of migrants. Opening from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23. 619756-7707, newamericansmuseum.org HUnfettered at Low Gallery, 1878 Main St., Barrio Logan. In collaboration with St. Madeleine Sophie’s Center, paintings from adults with various developmental disabilities including Corrine Lattore, Jackie Leong, Reg Oberg and more.

Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, July 24. 619-348-5517, lowgallerysd.com A Night of Aloha at Bliss 101, 553 S. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas. Josh Bernard will show off his surf photography and Alan Casagrande will exhibit colorful paintings of Cali-coastal living. Includes food, drinks, prizes, and a Hawaiian shirt contest. Opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 760-487-1900 Masked at Disclosed unLocation, 1925 30th Ave., San Diego, South Park. New fantastical photography from James Zzyzyx. Closing reception from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 619-933-5480, unlocation.com

H = CityBeat picks

HSueños De Europa at Chicano Art Gallery, 2117 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

Franky Agostino debuts new works inspired by his travels to Europe. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25.

619-792-2815 Artesano at Border X Brewing Tasting Room, 2196 Logan Ave., Barrio Logan.

A solo show exhibiting the political cartoons of local inker Junco Canché. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25.

619-787-6176 Walls and Windmills at TPG3, 330 A St., Downtown. Fantastical works by artists like Amanda Stalter, Cora Crimson, Leegan and more. Opening from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 858-354-6294, TPG3.net H(Con)text: Rethinking Language in Art at San Diego Art Institute, Balboa Park.

New works incorporating text, language, coding, spoken word, literature, books and other aesthetic materials from Kim Cruz, Chris Martino, Suzanne Thorpe and dozens more. Opening from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25. Free-$5. sandiego-art.org HCarved and Whittled Sculpture at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park.

An exhibition celebrating the cultural influences and personalities in more than 100 American-made walking sticks. Features hand-carved and painted sticks created in 29 states during the 1800s and 1900s.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25.

Free-$10. 619-239-0003, mingei.org Mr. Blue Skye Trunk Show at Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park. Watch textile artist Rachel Ehlin in action and learn more about her craft, while shopping hand-dyed silk kimonos and caftans, loom-woven clothing and jewelry.

From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 619-239-0003, mingei.org

14 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

HSuper Freaks at Basic, 410 10th Ave., East Village. Abstracted portraits by prolific painter Larry Caveney. Opening from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesday, July 28.

HMurals of La Jolla Walking Tour at Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Project curator Lynda Forsha will lead a tour of murals by Kim MacConnel, Ryan McGinness, Kelsey Brookes, Mel Bochner and more. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. 8584545872, ljathenaeum.org Ephemeral Architecture at Gallery 21, Spanish Villages, Balboa Park. Artist Philip Soucy presents his first solo exhibition featuring new works in mixed media and oils as well as ceramic and installation pieces.

From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. 619-233-9050, gallery21art.com

BOOKS Michelle Painchaud at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The local youngadult author will sign and discuss her debut novel, Pretending to be Erica, about a 17-year-old con-girl. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 24. 858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com HDavid Agranoff at Mysterious Galaxy Book Store, 5943 Balboa Ave., Ste. 100, Clairemont. The Wonderland Awardnominated writer will sign and discuss Amazing Punk Stories, a collection of stories set in classic pulp genres including horror, sci-fi, epic fantasy, westerns, spy and noir. At 2 p.m. Saturday, July 25.

858-268-4747, mystgalaxy.com Nina C. Payne at Barnes & Noble Encinitas, 1040 N. El Camino Real Drive, Encinitas. The local author will sign and discuss her novel, Moments in Time, about a yoga instructor falling in love.

At 4 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 760-9436400, barnesandnoble.com Belinda Jones at Warwick’s Bookstore, 7812 Girard Ave., La Jolla. As part of Warwick’s ongoing Weekend with Locals Program, Jones will sign and discuss her debut novel, The Traveling Tea Shop. At noon Sunday, July 26. 858-454-0347, warwicks.indiebound.com

COMEDY HTom Arnold at Hotel Del Coronado, 1500 Orange Ave. The actor and comedian is probably best known for his starring role in True Lies and as the host of The Best Damn Sports Show. At 9 p.m. Thursday, July 23, Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25. $30-$45.

800-468-3533, laughfactory.com/clubs/ hotel-del-coronado/

DANCE HSan Diego Hip-Hop CabHooray, Movimientos Mexicanos and more at various locations throughout San Diego.

This year’s San Diego International Fringe Festival is packed with all kinds of dance performances including hip-hop, dance theater, ballet folklorico and more. Thursday, July 23, through Sunday, Aug. 2. sdfringe.org

FASHION Glamour on Goldfinch at The Patio on Goldfinch, 4020 Goldfinch St., Mission Hills. Fashion Week San Diego designer TaSanni will showcase their collection with an informal modeling show. Partial proceeds go towards the Rancho Coastal Humane Society. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, July 26. 619-501-5090, fashionweeksd.com

FOOD AND DRINK Slow Sips and Honey at Local Habit, 3827 Fifth Ave., Hillcrest. Join Slow Food Urban San Diego for a networking event featuring local honey bee experts plus mead and honey from local producers.

From 5 to 7:15 p.m. Thursday, July 23.

619-795-4770 Mingle and Drink Cocktail Party at Vom Fass, 1050 University Avenue Suite E-103, Hillcrest. An exclusive summer cocktail party where patrons will learn how to combine unique flavors of exotic liqueurs and vinegars while also trying each cocktail. From 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 23. $15. 619-534-5034, hillcrest.vomfassusa.com HIron Fist Brewing Co. Grand Opening at Iron Fist Brewing, 1985 National Ave., Ste. 1132, Barrio Logan.

Celebrate the beer company’s new tasting room. Includes live music, several specialty beers on tap and the first 50 guests will receive a free taster glass. At noon Friday, July 24. 619-255-5818, ironfistbrewing.com Ales & Acoustic at Herringbone, 7837 Herschel Ave., La Jolla. Hear the musical stylings of Alfa and Kris Bradley while enjoying special brews from Coronado Brewing Co. including Islander IPA, Orange Ave WIT, 19th Anniversary Imperial IPA and more. From 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 25. (8584590221, info.herringboneeats.com HHessfest A street party-style beer fest with dozens of breweries to sample, live music and food. Takes place on Grim Avenue between University and North Park Way in North Park. Proceeds benefit The San Diego Music Foundation and Team Never Quit. From 12:30 to 5 p.m.

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EVENTS Saturday, July 25. $45-$60. 858-4590221, mikehessbrewing.com Summer Feast on the Farm at Suzie’s Farm, 1856 Saturn Blvd., Imperial Beach.

A seasonal, multi-course, farm-to-fork dinner from Thaddeus Barsotti (Farm Fresh To You) and Lucila De Alejandro (Suzie’s Farm) that includes beer and wine pairings. From 2:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 25. $135. 619-662-1780, summerfeast2015.eventbrite.com Distilled: A Spirited Summer Gin Fest at Hiatus Lounge, 7955 La Jolla Shores Dr., La Jolla. Taste premium brands while watching classic gin cocktail demos poolside. Grill menu available. From 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25. $10. 858-5513620, ginfest.bpt.me Tap Takeover at OB Warehouse, 4839 Newport Ave., Ocean Beach. Cismontane Brewing Co. is taking over the beer taps. Try nine unique beers, including The Mesa, a grape and pilsner malt blend, or the Black Dawn, a coffee stout on Nitro.

From 5 to 10 p.m. Monday, July 27. 619222-1700, ob-warehouse.com

MUSIC HRadiance: The Divas of Disco at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. The female singing quartet salutes disco greats like Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, The Pointer Sisters and more. At 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25. $20-$79.

6196153944, sandiegosymphony.com Rocky Dawuni at Poinsettia Park, 6600 Hidden Valley Road, Carlsbad. The Ghanaian international afro-roots star plays a show as part of the TGIF Concerts in the Park series. At 6 p.m. Friday, July 24. visitcarlsbad.com The Danny Green Trio with Curtis Taylor at La Jolla Community Center, 6811 La Jolla Blvd. The award-winning pianist and composer Danny Green and his band team up with trumpeter Curtis Taylor for a night of original music and jazz standards.

At 8 p.m. Friday, July 24. $18-$25. 858459-0831, ljcommunitycenter.org Tribute to Luther Vandross at 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. Local musician Leonard Patton pays tribute to the late soul singer with help from Amber Whitlock, Eric Lige, Tim Noe and more. At 8 p.m. Friday, July 24. $15.

619-255-7885 International Youth Symphony Concert at California Center for the Arts, 340 North Escondido Blvd., Escondido. The San Diego Youth Symphony and Conservatory’s 11th annual concert will feature selections from Mozart, Beethoven and Gabriel Faure. At 7 p.m. Saturday, July 25. $10-$25. 619-233-3232, sdys.org O’Side Outside Summer Concert Series at Jitters Coffee Pub, 510 N. Coast Highway, Oceanside. Feeding the Soul Foundation’s outdoors concert series continues with Jessie Payo and The Vibrometers. Includes food and drink vendors. From 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25. $25. feedingthesoulfoundation.org Bolokada at South Shore Park, 2900 S Shore Dr., Mission Bay. The iconic West African drummer of Les Percussions de Guinee leads a drum circle on the beach at Rose Marie Starns Park by the gazebo.

From 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 619235-1169, morhythmdrumschool.org HImagine: The Music of Lennon & McCartney at Balboa Theatre, 868 Fourth Ave., Downtown. The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus’ annual summer show will feature renditions of iconic Beatles and Lennon/McCartney solo hits. At 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25, and 3 p.m. Sunday, July 26. $17-$70. 619-570-1100, sdgmc.org

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Bayside Gospel at USS Midway Museum, 910 N. Harbor Dr., Downtown. The flight deck of the USS Midway will host Erica Campbell of Mary Mary and a lineup of celebrated gospel entertainers and choirs for a concert benefitting American veterans. At 7 p.m. Sunday, July 26. $25-$35.

858-480-1314, mandaterecords.com Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II at Embarcadero Marina Park South, 111 W. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Part of the Summer Pops season, this concert features classic Looney Tunes cartoons projected on the big screen, while the San Diego Symphony Orchestra performs the original Carl Stalling scores live. At 8 p.m.

Sunday, July 26. $20-$79. 619-6153944, sandiegosymphony.com DAY MVS at Quartyard, 1102 G. St., East Village. FNGRS CRSSD presents an all-day EDM concert featuring music by Bonobo (DJ set), Lee K b2b Deth Hertz, Alex Wax&Fourzan and more.

From 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday, July 26. $25$35. 714-392-8565

by Curran Jeffery, this friendly drop-in group shares poetry, short prose and thoughts on the reading and writing life.

At 7 p.m. Sunday, July 26. 619-2961424, bluestockingbooks.com

POLITICS AND COMMUNITY Bernie Sanders Organizing Event at IBEW Local 569, 4545 Viewridge Ave., Clairemont. Help organize and strategize unique and creative ways to help elect Bernie Sanders as President of the United States of America.

Bernie Sanders will be calling in and speaking live via webcast. From 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. 858-7750163, sandiegoforberniesanders2016. com

SPECIAL EVENTS Paws 4 Art at 98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. An evening of art, wine and food benefitting homeless animals that need medical attention and loving homes. From 6 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, July 23. $40. 619-255-7885, paws4art.eventbrite.com HHillcrest Night Bazaar at The T Lounge, 1475 University Ave., Hillcrest. A weekly night market featuring art, a variety of vendors and live entertainment. From 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, July 23. 619-2918221, facebook.com/hillcrestnightbazaar HThe Knit and Crochet Show at Town & Country Hotel, 500 Hotel Circle N., Mission Valley. This new conference-style

showcase combines learning, shopping and networking to further the appreciation of knitting, crochet and fiber arts.

From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, July 24, and Saturday, July 25. $5. 740-4524541 knitandcrochetshow.com HBeer and Nine at The Loma Club, 2960 Truxtun Rd., Point Loma. Enjoy some Modern Times beer and nine rounds of golf.

Ticket price includes a round of golf, four craft beers and hosted appetizers. Call for reservations. At 5 p.m. Friday, July 24. $25. 619-222-4653, thelomaclub.com San Diego Club Crawl at Beer Co., 602 Broadway, Downtown. Patrons can gain access to popular San Diego nightclubs and score free drinks with ticket pur-

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Pops Picnic II at Encinitas Community Center, 1140 Oakcrest Park Drive, Encinitas. The North Coast Symphony Orchestra will perform a program of light classical and pops music. From 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 26. $8-$10. northcoastsymphony.com HIsabelle Demers at Spreckels Organ Pavilion, Balboa Park. The organ professor and head of the organ program at Baylor University in Texas plays a special concert as part of the Centennial International Summer Organ Festival. At 7:30 p.m.

Monday, July 27. spreckelsorgan.org

PERFORMANCE HSan Diego International Fringe Festival Experience multiple performances, ranging from theater to music to performance art and more at this annual event that gives artists the opportunity to perform in a festival setting. See website for showtimes, locations and prices. Thursday, July 23, through Sunday, Aug. 2.

235-9500, sdfringe.org HCirko Teleskoptico: Symposium at SILO in Makers Quarter, 753 15th St., East Village. The San Diego-based circus troupe will debut an immersive and interactive dinner show that includes a four-course meal catered by local gourmet food truck God Save the Cuisine. At 8 p.m. Friday, July 24, and 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, July 25. $60-$126. 619-7025655, cirkoteleskoptico.com

POETRY AND SPOKEN WORD Poetry Ruckus at Ducky Waddle’s Emporium, 414 N. Coast Hwy. 101, Encinitas.

A regular open mic event for local poets to share their work. From 7:30 to 9 p.m.

Wednesday, July 22. 760-632-0488, duckywaddles.com HFlow ‘n’ Tell at SmartSpace Gallery, 4455 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite 100, Miramar. The Story Consortium presents a night of open-mic slam poetry, freestyle, flash fiction, short stories, prose and more. Open to anyone who wants to read.

From 6 to 10:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23. $5 suggested donation. 619-453-0880, facebook.com/stARTspaceCollective HThe Radvocate Reading and Release Party at James Coffee Co. Little Italy, 2355 India St., Little Italy. The launch party of The Radvocate, So Say We All’s new literary journal. Features readings

by Alex Bosworth, Patrick Mayuyu, Lauren Becker, Kiik AK, and more. At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 619-756-7770, sosayweallonline.com Sunday Sontage at Bluestocking Books, 3817 5th Ave., Hillcrest. Hosted

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 15

EVENTS

MOONLIGHT STAGE COMPANY

THEATER

en chirping “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little.”

Moonlight Stage Productions’ second summer offering at its Vista amphitheater is The Music Man, and it’s as wispy, dramatically speaking, as Old Glory fluttering over the River City courthouse. Still, a massive cast featuring many well-rehearsed child actors couldn’t do much better with the time-tested Alessa Neeck and David Engle in The Music Man tale of “Professor” Harold Hill, Marian the librarian, and the shady scheme to start up a boy’s Time stands still band that ends up becoming a sugar-sweet love story. Leads David Engel (as Hill) and in River City Alessa Neeck (as Marian) are appealing ow in its seventh decade of pro- and clean-scrubbed, and director John ductions, The Music Man remains Vaughan’s choreography sets the pace for a quaint, hearty Broadway musical, a swiftly satisfying night outdoors. as much a time warp as the Year 1912 in The Music Man runs through Aug. 1 River City, Iowa, in which it is set. In case at the Moonlight Amphitheatre in Vista. you’ve forgotten, this Meredith Willson/ $24-$52. moonlightstage.com Franklin Lacey show is brassy enough to *** blast to the heavens “Seventy-Six TromSide By Side By Sondheim, which closes bones” (its showstopper), but old-fangled the North Coast Repertory Theatre’s 33rd enough to pair onstage a stripe-jacketed barbershop quartet warbling “Goodnight, season, is a celebration of the legendary Ladies” and shamelessly gossiping wom- lyricist and composer, who really needs no introduction. Accompanied by two pianists

N

16 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

onstage, Randall Dodge, Angelina Reaux, Rena Strober and Nicholas MongiardoCooper (who also narrates about Sondheim’s spectacular career) croon or belt out—whichever is called for—nearly 30 of the master’s show tunes. Most are classics from powerhouses like Gypsy, West Side Story and Company, but a few are on the obscure side.

The fun-loving ensemble adds theatricality to the proceedings by incorporating sight gags and other comedy bits, though individually they tend to oversell some of the ballads. Nevertheless, Side by Side…is a thoroughly entertaining evening of Sondheim for fans, and for those brushing up on their Broadway history, it makes for a lively musical education.

Side by Side by Sondheim runs through Aug. 16 at North Coast Repertory Theatre in Solana Beach. $44-$51. northcoastrep.org

—David L. Coddon

Theater reviews run weekly.

Write to davidc@sdcitybeat.com.

OPENING: San Diego International Fringe Festival: The annual, multi-venue fest features nearly a dozen theatrical shows ranging from one-person productions to experimental musicals. Opens July 23. See website for full lineup. sdfringe.org

Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery: The West Coast premiere of playwright Ken Ludwig’s clever adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic Holmes tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Opens July 24 at The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. theoldglobe.org Tartuffe, or The Hypocrite: Molière’s 17th Century comedy about a scheming impostor attempting to ruin a French family’s name. Part of the 19th annual Free Classics Series, it opens July 24 at the Coronado Playhouse. coronadoplayhouse.com Unnecessary Farce: The comedic tale of an embezzling mayor trying to outrun his accountant, the law, and some hitmen as well. It opens July 24 at PowPAC Community Theatre in Poway. powpac.org Return to the Forbidden Planet: Shakespeare’s The Tempest gets a sci-fi B-movie makeover complete with a classic-rock soundtrack. It opens July 25 at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. newvillagearts.org Full Gallop: A staged reading of the one-woman show about the life and times of Diana Vreeland, who served as editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue for over five decades. Presented by Intrepid Theatre Company, it happens July 27 at the Encinitas Library. intrepidtheatre.org Up Here: The world premiere of the new musical comedy about a computer repairman trying to find happiness and love despite his many neuroses.

Composed by the duo behind Avenue Q and In Transit, it opens July 28 at the La Jolla Playhouse. lajollaplayhouse.org

For full listings, please visit “T heater ” at sdcitybeat.com

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EVENTS

Untitled sculptures by Lindu are showing in Lindu & Friends: Contemporary Indonesian Works of Art, opening at David Alan Collection (241 S. Cedros Ave.) in Solana Beach from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 22. chase. Participating clubs include Parq, Side Bar, Fluxx, F6ix, and more. From 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday, July 24. $30. 323-348-7146, sandiegoclubcrawl.com HSupergirl Pro Surf Competition at Oceanside Pier, 300 N. The Strand. The world’s top professional surfer women return to Oceanside for a weekend full of competitions. Includes a festival village loaded with surf and skate vendors, art, fashion, music, fitness, dance, food and a beer garden. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, July 24, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, July 25, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 26. Friday, July 24. 760-632-6843, supergirlpro.com Scrub the Runway at Casa Del Prado, Balboa Park, Balboa Park. A scrubs fashion show and fun night of socializing for San Diego hospital professionals. All drink sales, scrubs sales, and auction proceeds benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities of San Diego. From 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, July 24. scrubtherunway.org HObon Festival at Vista Buddhist Temple, 150 Cedar Road, Vista. This annual fest features Japanese food, taiko drumming by temple and local drumming groups, cultural demonstrations and performances, boutique items, game booths and much more. From noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26. 760-941-8800, vbtemple.org HArts & Amps at Karl Strauss Pacific Beach, 5985 Santa Fe St., Pacific Beach. The quarterly event features live performances from The Mattson 2 and DJ OMZ, new brews from Karl’s “Under the Stairs” sour series lineup, and charitable surfboard painting from local nonprofit ReSurf Project. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25. karlstrauss.com Turista Libre: Tijuana Waterpark at San Ysidro Port of Entry, South of the pedestrian border crossing in Tijuana, Colonia Federal. Day trip to El Vergel, Baja California’s largest waterpark. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Saturday, July 25. $30. turistalibre.com HFiesta del Sol The annual street festival features an entertainment stage, food court, community pavilions, and over 100 small businesses booths. Takes place on Logan Avenue between Chicano Park and 26th Street in Barrio Logan. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26. 650-7660621, fiestadelsolsandiego.org HSouth Park Summer Walkabout The quarterly event is meant to introduce patrons to the shops and cafes of the hip and historic ‘hood. Shops are open late, with entertainment, specials and surprises.

From 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 25. 619-208-7484, southparksd.com HSuperheroes’ Night Out at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. The third annual fundraising event includes dinner, dessert, superhero-themed activities, costume parades and much more. Proceeds benefit museum programs and activities. Adult admission includes two drink tickets. From 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 25. Free$35. 619-233-8792, thinkplaycreate.org Frights & Pints Charity Night: Kills For A Cause at The Ugly Dog Pub, 6344 El Cajon Blvd., College Area. The ladies of Horror Elitist Group and Who Goes There? podcast team up for a horror movie screening of Critters and Hatchet. Includes a raffle and art for sale to benefit Ronald McDonald House at Rady Children’s Hospital. At 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25. $10 suggested donation. 619-269-8204

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Days of the Vaquero at Old Town Historic Park. Part of Old Town’s annual Stagecoach Days celebration, learn about the first cowboys in California through living history activities, demonstrations, stories, songs and more. From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 25.

619-491-0099, parks.ca.gov/oldtownsandiego HSea Chantey Festival at Maritime Museum of San Diego, 1492 N. Harbor Drive, Downtown. Visitors will enjoy sea chanteys and traditional folk music performed by bands like The Jackstraws, Spanaway Bay, The Phinney Ridge Rumrunners and more. The Star of India sail crew will also demonstrate various shipboard skills. From 11 a.m. to 4:25 p.m. Sunday, July 26. $8$16. 619-234-9153, sdmaritime.org North PB Sip ‘n’ Stroll at Turquoise Cellars, 5026 Cass St., Pacific Beach. The third annual fair promoting the residents, businesses and community organizations of Pacific Beach. Benefits the Bike Friendly Business District of Discover Pacific Beach. See website for details and list of participants. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sunday, July 26. 858-401-0849, sipnstrollpb.com

TALKS AND DISCUSSIONS Learning Landscapes: The Future of Education at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. Dr. Milton Chen will lead a discussion on how to improve San Diego’s educational system for the next generation. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23. sdfoundation.org H7 Billion Conversations at Museum of Photographic Arts, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park. Inspired by the film Women’s Stories, the Women in Leadership in the 21st Century panel will feature discussions on how the ideas explored in the film affect San Diego communities. From 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 23.

Suggested donation. 619-238-7559, mopa.org HLearning Landscapes: The Future of Education in San Diego at New Children’s Museum, 200 W. Island Ave., Downtown. A discussion on the future of education and innovative models that offer students better ways to explore their passions. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 23. sdfoundation.org Folk Art Walking Sticks at Mingei International Museum, 1439 El Prado, Balboa Park. Learn about the new exhibition Carved and Whittled Sculpture with a lecture and preview with Mingei’s director of exhibitions Christine Knoke and collectors Pam and Tim Hill. From noon to 1 p.m. Friday, July 24. Free-$10.

619-239-0003, mingei.org A Course in Miracles at Universal Spirit Center, 3858 Front St., Hillcrest. A discussion of Kenneth Wapnick’s book, A Course in Miracles. From 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 25. 619-291-4728, universalspiritcenter.org HThe Visual Language of Comics at Atkinson Hall Auditorium, UCSD, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla. Cognitive scientist Neil Cohn discusses the visual language of sequential images that combines with text and how are brains understand this deeply rooted expressive system. At 11 a.m. Tuesday, July 28. designlab.ucsd.edu David Matthew Brown at Universal Spirit Center, 3858 Front St., Hillcrest. The author and spiritual speaker will discuss his work in universal principle, sound, energy, and shamanic work, and sign his books after the presentation. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 29. $20 suggested donation. 619-291-4728, universalspiritcenter.org

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 17

Culture

It’s taken a village to grow one block of Logan Avenue into a thriving arts district by kinsee morlan

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t a glance, the stretch of Logan Avenue between Sampson and South Evans streets could be mistaken as an ordinary block in Barrio Logan. Other than the modern La Esquina livework development at the corner of Sampson and Logan, plus a few spruced-up storefronts scattered down the street, most of the buildings lining the block are low-key or even broken-down. Things appear to be fairly quiet, but a quick stroll down the street reveals the unexpected and exciting cultural offerings happening inside the unassuming buildings.

On a recent Tuesday afternoon, soft experimental music spills out of thChrch at 2151 Logan Ave. Pronounced “The Church,” the space opened a year ago as an incubator for artists and musicians. It includes a recording studio, performance and gallery space, retail shop and record store.

Nearby at 2117 Logan, Chicano Art Gallery opens new exhibitions every few weeks, as does HB Punto Experimental, the contemporary-art gallery at 2151 Logan that’s accessed through the back alleyway.

Across the street at 2146 Logan, Por Vida, a new coffee shop, gallery and retail space, is underway. Its owners, Milo Lorenzana, Bucky Montero and Carolina Santana, are inside, busy finalizing details of the freshly redesigned space before the scheduled opening in August.

“It’s boiling here right now,” says Lorenzana, referencing the rapid transformation the block has undergone in recent years. “You can feel the movement. You can feel the change coming on. It’s exciting.”

Next door to Por Vida, Andrea Rushing, an oil painter who ran an art academy on Adams Avenue in Normal Heights for years until he moved his studio to Logan Avenue a few months ago, teaches one of his students how to paint.

Across the way, Orso Art at 2175 Logan houses artists Gary Harper and Barbara Postelnek. And further down the street at 2196 Logan, Chris Zertuche, who runs La Bodega Gallery & Studios with Sonia López-Chávez, has a paint roller inhand as he whitewashes the walls in preparation for one of the gallery’s big upcoming group exhibitions, which have been attracting huge crowds of people to Barrio Logan since the gallery opened in late 2013.

“When we first moved to Logan, it was very desolate, empty—all the businesses had for-rent signs,” Zertuche says. “People who were coming to shows and seeing what we were doing were saying, ‘Wow, we want to be part of this,’ and I would always tell them there’s a spot across the street that’s vacant, and now look…I say the more the merrier. It’s not a competition. I just want everyone to come have fun and enjoy all the different art and culture that everyone can bring to the table.”

Inside Border X Brewing at 2181 Logan, which just

18 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

opened its newest location this year, a local television crew is shooting a segment on the brewery’s art exhibition, Chicano-Con, which got the media’s attention when organizers angled it as an attempt to get folks who attend Comic-Con to finally take notice of Barrio Logan. ¡Salud! A San Diego Taco Company Eatery recently opened its doors at 2196 Logan, activating the sidewalk with an outdoor patio. There’s a new bike and skateboard shop, The Chain, at 2113 Logan. And David White, who formerly ran an experimental gallery in North Park, just launched Soft Borders, a mini library and research space focusing on grassroots neighborhood development at 2222 Logan on the first floor of La Esquina. *** hings have changed dramatically for this small block of Logan Avenue over the last few years. The arts spaces have attracted small businesses and, thanks largely to the ongoing Barrio Art Crawl events that invite outsiders in to explore art spaces throughout all of Barrio Logan, the block is slowly becoming recognized as one of San Diego’s newest and most exciting emerging arts districts. The grassroots efforts of the artists, activists and small business owners behind the block’s transformation have not gone unnoticed.

“It’s part of what we like to call the gente-fication of Barrio Logan,” says Brent Beltran, a resident who sits on the community planning group. “Of course, gente means people in Spanish and what it means is that we’re doing this for ourselves. The vast majority of places that have opened up on that block of Logan have been people who are from this community or have been activists or had social interest in this community…It’s amazing what they’ve done and what’s taken place in that section. It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen outside of the formation of Chicano Park.”

John Alvarado, the director of the Logan Avenue Business Association, grew up on the Logan Avenue block and he’s in the midst of remodeling his home on Logan to include more of a public storefront area where he can hang art and historical photos.

“At one time, this was the tuna capital of the world and this street was at the heart of it,” Alvarado says, slipping in a quick history lesson. “Then the canneries left and things got quiet

T

Clockwise from top left: Andrea Rushing inside his studio on Logan Avenue H Chris Zertuche painting the walls at La Bodega Gallery & Studios H Victoria Carter, events coordinator at Border X Brewing H Kyle Fabi, Jay Tumolva and Joseph Harris of Uncommon Value, the retail clothing shop inside thChrch on Logan Avenue H From left: Bucky Montero, Milo Lorenzana and Carolina Santana at Por Vida, a coffee shop and galleria set to open in August on Logan Avenue…And now we have the hipsters and the art people here in town and, for our street, it’s been good.”

Until recently, says Alvarado, the block had been overlooked by big-time developers/investors who wanted to swoop up cheap land close to downtown. As the self-appointed mayor of Logan Avenue, he tries to keep tabs on real-estate exchanges and he says it wasn’t until last year that a lot of properties were sold on and around the block. *** uan Martinez, a Barrio Logan broker for Foster Hamilton Real Estate, says he just sold several properties on Logan Avenue. But he says it’s not time to ring the gentrification-warning bells just yet. At least for now, Martinez says the developers seem to be a good fit for the neighborhood.

“I would love to be an artist, but I don’t have that gift so I really appreciate those who do,” says Sasha Favelukis, an investor who just picked up two properties on the popular Logan Avenue block. “I like what artists do, so what I do is try to help and facilitate that. If that can be my way of contributing to the art world, then so be it—that’s great.”

Favelukis says he’s turning one of his properties into art studios and the other into a restaurant.

“Investing in that neighborhood, it’s not to tear it down and rebuild,” he says. “That little area is going to be the art center for San Diego. What I’m doing, I really feel it will bring even more artists.”

As expected, many of the folks behind the existing art spaces are wary of future development and they hope the

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all photos by kinsee morlan

attention they’ve brought to the block will attract more investors like Favelukis who appreciate art and understand its value. But White, who was was pushed out of his North Park gallery due to gentrification, says he thinks it’ll be difficult to protect the street from the kind of development that raises rent and forces artists out.

“It’s scary how fast things are flipping,” White writes in an email.

“From experience, I fear that it will not last long given the capital cannibalism that seems to be accelerating. If I had to guess, rents for these arts spaces will increase dramatically the next few years.”

Héctor Pérez, the architect and developer behind La Esquina— which has housed a long and impressive list of artists and designers who’ve helped bring the block of Logan Avenue to life since the building opened in 2012—says the number of “developer sharks” circling Barrio Logan looking to make a quick buck is indeed frightening, but he’s not too worried.

“I think a community that has always been so politically active will continue to be that way,” he says. “The community wins small battles and the battle of not changing the cultural identity of Barrio Logan is one that I think we have a very unique and good opportunity to salvage…I think culture will win this battle, so I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Write to kinseem@sdcitybeat.com

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July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 19

CULTURE | ART KINSEE MORLAN

SEEN LOCAL HISTORY HALTED

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n ambitious exhibition originally scheduled to open in November at the Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) has been cancelled.

History As It Happened: Art in San Diego and the Art Criticism of Robert L. Pincus, 1985-2010 was on track to become OMA’s biggest-ever exhibition, taking over all five of the galleries inside the museum’s top and bottom floors. Artworks in the show were being culled from hundreds of reviews and features written by Robert L. Pincus, critic at The San Diego Union-Tribune for 25 years before he was laid off amid major cuts at the daily paper in 2010.

The exhibition and catalog was being organized

by Pincus and freelance curator Tara Smith Centybear, who was previously on staff at OMA. Both took months rereading every word the art critic had written. They then created a list of approximately 150 artists to include in the show. Well-known locals like Stephen P. Curry, Roman De Salvo, David Avalos and Eleanor Antin made the cut, but so did lesser-known artists whose work they deemed important.

“There’s an amazing multitude of artists who’ve done really good work here, and some who’ve been forgotten,” Pincus says. “It was really hard to edit down our list of artists to include.”

Pincus and Centybear say they were forced to call off the exhibition when it became apparent OMA didn’t have the resources necessary to stage the show. The irony is that OMA’s former executive director, Daniel Foster, who resigned his post in May, is the one who originally envisioned the show and enrolled the help of Pincus and Centybear. CityBeat reached out to OMA, but they declined to comment.

Foster did not respond by press time.

“There were probably problems all along,” Pincus says of the show’s demise. “But we weren’t too worried about them early on…because Tara used to work at the museum and she knew how they functioned.”

Part of the problem, they say, is when Foster left and Sandra Chanis stepped in as interim director.

Tara Smith Centybear and Robert L. Pincus They say the project got lost in the transition and they were unable to get any solid commitments on important aspects of the show, such as fundraising.

Centrybear and Pincus had secured a grant from the newly formed David C. Copley Foundation, but it required OMA to raise matching funds.

“But nothing was happening on their end,” Pincus says. “There were no fundraising efforts that we knew of.”

Pincus and Centybear say there was a sense they could’ve done a scaled-down version of the show, but they wanted to do it right.

“You only have one chance to do something like this,” Pincus says. “We’re not going to do a half version…I think if people saw the work all together in one place, it makes quite an impression.”

The pair says they’re not ready to spearhead a revival for the show yet, but they do hope to see it somehow realized in the future, perhaps at another venue.

“I think the show could positively impact the future of San Diego art,” Centybear says. “It will let us take a look back and be proud of what all these fantastic people accomplished and remember that we can do great things here.”

—Kinsee Morlan

KINSEE MORLAN

COLLECTORS DIVEST

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tanding inside his bathroom, Steven Churchill is showing me a few photos from his personal collection.

“The work always has a story,” he says of the limited-edition prints by artists like Mariela Sancari and Emma Hardy. “That’s what interests me; to hear why people do what they do.”

Churchill, who organizes the annual Art of Photography Show—which is on hiatus while he builds an app—has amassed an impressive art collection over the years. It’s so large, much of it sits in storage.

He recently approached his friend and fellow collector, Doug Simay, who also has a huge, hard-tomanage collection, with an idea for an art exhibition held in his home.

The two pulled the show off last Saturday, staging a one-night exhibition of works by international and local artists, including Dan Camp, Irina Negulescu, Ernest Silva and others. They hope other collectors will be able to enjoy the work more than they could.

“Like this piece has been in storage forever,” Simay says, pointing to a large painting by Rosann Berry. “I haven’t even looked at it for 25 years…It’s time to let it go.”

20 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

Steven Churchill (left) and Doug Simay The pair says they’ll likely host future pop-up exhibitions featuring works from their collections (those interested should email steven@stevenchurchill.com).

“I think seeing art in someone’s home makes it real,” Churchill says. “It’s not just on the wall for examination like in a museum. There’s more of a connection between the arts and your real life and it shows what art can and should do for you.”

—Kinsee Morlan #SDCityBeat

culture | voices

There she

alex zaragoza

Goz

Conflict resolution with idiots

W

hen I was a little girl, there were these ads that aired on the Spanish language channels where my mom would catch all her telenovelas. In between scenes of sexy-yetvirginal women experiencing their first male touch in a sunset-lit stable on Cañaveral de Pasiones, an ad would come on showing a parent flirting dangerously with child abuse.

A tired-looking mom would be slaving away ironing her (I assume) ungrateful husband’s shirts when her child comes running in and knocks over the ironing board. As Mexican moms often do, this lady loses it. Then as she raises her hand to beat the ignoramus out of the fruit of her womb, a red light flashes. “Stop! Don’t hit. Take a deep breath and count to 10.” The mom then cools her child-smacking jets and calmly explains the importance of watching where you’re going when women are ironing, or something like that. Basically, mom counting to 10 saved this kid a savage third-degree slap burn and she would remember to not resort to violence when someone did something stupid.

That commercial flashes in my brain every time I hear someone spout racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist and downright ignorant comments in person or on the Internet, where all the shitheads come out of the asshole woodwork to play. As of late, this commercial has been blaring in my mind non-stop. What with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named (Hint: He has hair that looks like a backwards merkin made out of a strawberry blond yeti’s taint pubes) calling Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers (but some are okay, the taint-pubed one begrudgingly admitted), people defending the Confederate flag and what seems like 50,000 other examples, I’ve been closing my eyes and counting to 10 so much I might be considered a narcoleptic now.

Anyone who falls into a minority, whether it stems from their race, sexual orientation, gender or other characteristics, has dealt with ignorance. Sometimes it’s well meaning or comes from a lack of awareness rather than pure discrimination, and sometimes it’s hate-filled and disgusting. In either case, it can be pretty infuriating.

When I explained to my college boyfriend that my family moved from San Diego back to Mexico when I was 12, he asked why we would “regress” like that. Another former boyfriend’s dad asked if I thought Mexican water gave my dad the cancer that eventually took his life. Firstly, man, I’ve dated some idiots. Secondly, what the hell is wrong with people? Why do they think these are okay questions to ask? And worse, why do they think this way at all?

This is ridiculous! Oh man, here comes the flashing red light. Deep breath. Count to 10.

Over the years, I’ve tried various methods of

dealing with these sort of comments. The worst was ignoring them or laughing with people because I wanted to fit in. When I thankfully outgrew that, I attacked. That led to screaming matches and trolls setting me off on purpose. It was exhausting on my body and soul, and I found rarely changed minds.

Then one day I just stopped, took a deep breath and explained to some idiot why their comment was inappropriate and/or just plain wrong. That’s what I still do. If I can cite specific studies, articles or facts, I throw those in too as a hadouken.

Turns out a version of this method I adopted from those Mexican adverts is also recommended by the National Conflict Resolution Center (NCRC), an organization that provides resources and training for people, communities and organizations for solving conflicts in a civil manner. I recently took a diversity training course from the NCRC, where I learned about the Aikido style of conflict resolution.

Based on the Aikido form of martial arts, where a practitioner uses their opponent’s energy and momentum to redirect an attack, the Aikido style of communication involves listening in a non-reactive manner, letting go of your ego, responding respectfully and troubleshooting with your opponent in a nonconfrontational way.

When the NCRC trainer asked me how I deal with conflict, I admitted how difficult it is to be civil and understanding when someone is incredibly offensive. It cuts you deep, but all I can do, it seems, is explain and educate and continue to do that as much as necessary, knowing I will see my grave before I ever see the day I no longer have to do this. The Aikido style often feels impossible and unfair. Someone in the room asked a question that anyone who’s ever confronted ignorance has asked, too.

“Why does the burden of educating have to fall on Alex, or anyone for that matter? Why can’t these people learn to not be ignorant? Why do we have to explain things?”

Sigh. All the sighs forever. I’m in a sigh factory mass producing sighs for Sigh-kea. The burden always falls on everyone except those who perpetrate ignorance and hatred. We’re expected to coddle people into understanding the concept of equality and respect and never lose our cool in the process. It is our burden. “If Alex yells she becomes the stereotypical angry Mexican woman,” said another attendee.

“I am an angry Mexican woman,” I admitted aloud.

It’s hard not to be an angry anything when faced with ignorance or discrimination. But all we can do is breath deep and continue to explain.

There She Goz appears once a month.

Write to alexz@sdcitybeat.com.

“

That led to screaming matches and trolls setting me off on purpose..

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July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 21

CULTURE | FILM

Death becomes him

Woody Allen’s latest sees the dark side of becoming yourself

by Glenn Heath Jr.

I

rrational Man is a tale of two corpses. Joaquin Phoenix, an incredibly enigmatic and fidgety actor who can speak volumes by simply furling his Irrational Man brow, embodies them both with unsettling dedication. As Abe, the existentially conflicted professor Watching Abe’s “perfect murder” fall apart is a thing at the center of Woody Allen’s latest sun-drenched of expected comeuppance, less tense than pre-orjoint, Phoenix toes the line between creative and dained. The film ends up feeling like a cross between creep. He feels right at home as a chameleon strug- Match Point and Scoop, morbidly dark yet brightly gling to remember exactly how he fits into the cloying. That’s a really strange combination, even by Woody standards. world’s foliage.

It’s hard not to admire Irrational Man for sugInitially, Abe sulks through each frame like a forlorn mortician waiting to bury a body (possibly his gesting that a standard redemptive narrative arc can own?). Upon arriving at a Rhode Island college to be turned inside out. Abe’s downfall stems from his teach philosophy for the summer, he immediately desire to finally take direct action, usually an indicalives up to his reputation as a cynical burnout with tor of a character’s betterment. Allen celebrates the heavy emotional baggage. Passionate lectures about notion that becoming an active participant in society Kant and Sartre gain adornment from loving stu- is entirely defined by your own warped perspective. dents, including Emma Stone’s smart and naïve Jill. So is Abe’s a case of delusion run amok or simply of Yet deeply awkward exchanges at parties draw the one’s true character being revealed and promptly destroyed by the universe? The ire of jealous faculty members viewer remains judge, jury and who resent his isolationist tenexecutioner. dencies.

IRRATIONAL After the delightful and inThe irony? Despite resemtoxicating Magic in the MoonMAN bling the walking dead, Abe has light, Allen’s latest feels trite by already achieved his finest self in Directed by Woody Allen comparison, like a rushed doodle being completely depressed. He Starring Joaquin Phoenix, with very little on its mind except just doesn’t know it yet. All of this Emma Stone, Parker Posey, simply existing. The dialogue is doom and gloom has instilled in and Jamie Blackley typically snappy and verbose, but him a moral compass, albeit one Rated R the film lacks for visual flair. It’s that is slightly askew. He resists also tonally indecisive; if you’re when Jill wants to begin an affair, going to make a tragedy about the understanding that this arrangement would be bad news for both parties. Abe may be manipulation of philosophy why not provide a more a self-loathing sod, but he’s at least a self-aware one. foreshadowing along the way?

Irrational Man, which opens Friday, July 24, has Halfway through the film, though, Abe and Jill overhear a fateful conversation at a diner about a cor- dueling narrators (both Abe and Jill), suggesting rupt local judge shuffling the deck in a custody case. some connection between their respective experiAbe interprets this as a sign, an opportunity to make ences. Yet the brutally frank finale is one of many the world a better place by committing a violent act aesthetic choices that are haphazardly made to against a seemingly deserving individual. Thinking complicate the characters on purely a surface level. about murder reinvigorates Abe; he’s no longer im- The most interesting element of the film—that Abe potent emotionally or physically and feels inspired punches his own ticket the second he becomes hapto write poetry again. Except this is a Woody Allen py—is less important to Allen than once again disfilm, and whenever a character feels this jolly about cussing the banality of evil and the futility of ideology. He’s officially going through the motions. murder there’s only one conceivable outcome.

The second part of Irrational Man shoots for a Film reviews run weekly. darker tone, waxing eloquently about the futility Write to glennh@sdcitybeat.com. of control in even the most certain circumstances.

Dead or alive?

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ith A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Swedish director Roy Andersson concludes his trilogy about “being a human being,” which began with 2000’s Songs From the Second and 2007’s You, the Living. One could argue, though, that none of the characters in this final chapter are alive at all; there are zombies with more skin tone.

22 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

Unfolding as a series of casually overlapping vignettes, the film gravitates toward a certain deadpan view of life’s little tragedies and disappointments. The camera does not move, observing people move slowly within a given space usually drained of most color. Each frame is dynamically textured; a mosaic of interlocking shapes and bodies that suggests the world still has a pulse.

If Pigeon has a central narrative, it revolves around two

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

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CULTURE | FILM hapless salesmen hocking novelty items to uninterested business owners. Jonathan (Holger Andersson), the sad one, can’t stop crying when his partner Sam (Nils Westblom) yells at him. Sensitivity like this exists in the strangest and most beguiling moments, which include a sublime musical interlude set inside a pub during a flashback to 1943.

Roy Andersson’s treatment of history is fascinating. Time periods often collide, like when Charles XII and his army suddenly invade a town stopping over in a restaurant space and for an aggressive breather. Here we have the lavish grandeur of period piece fluff contrasting with blue-collar melancholia in perfect fashion.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, which opens Friday, July 24 at the Digital Gym Cinema, challenges traditional notions of cinematic pacing. Its glacial speed takes some getting used to. But once you’ve settled in to the film’s sly and tactile view of human nature, its virtues are revelatory. It all may look like rigor mortis incarnate, but that’s just life stripped of all the fantastical trimmings.

—Glenn Heath Jr.

OPENING 3 ½ Minutes, 10 Bullets: In 2012, a white man got into an argument with four black teenagers, resulting in a tragic shooting that left one of them, Jordan Davis, dead at the scene. This documentary examines the event and Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground laws. Plays through Thursday, July 30 at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile: During the Arab Spring in 2011, a Syrian writer named Amina Arraf is abducted for launching a blog that charted the gains made by those participating in the uprising. Plays through Thursday, July 30 at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence: A series of vignettes that loosely involve two hapless salesmen who witness the human condition and all of its absurd glory. Plays through Thursday, July 30 at the Digital Gym Cinema in North Park (see review on page 22).

Do I Sound Gay?: A documentary about the stereotype of the “Gay Voice” by filmmaker David Thorpe.

Irrational Man: In Woody Allen’s latest comedy, a college professor (Joaquin Phoenix) finds the will to live after he commits an existential act (see review on page 22).

La Jolla Fashion Film Festival: A celebration of fashion in film that features screenings, gala parties, and panels.

Event runs on Thursday and Friday, July 24 and 25, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla.

Pixels: Aliens misinterpret video feeds of classic arcade games as acts of war, then attack the Earth with massive incarnations

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of some of those games’ most classic characters.

Southpaw: Jake Gyllenhaal buffs up for his role as a down-and-out boxer trying to fight his way back to the title.

ONE TIME ONLY The Third Man: Joseph Cotten plays Holly Martin, who travels to postwar Vienna after the death of a mysterious friend, the black market racketeer, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Screens at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, at the Mission Valley Public Library.

Blazing Saddles: A corrupt politician appoints a black sheriff in order to ruin a western town, and his plan backfires in hilarious fashion in Mel Brooks’ scathing frontier satire. Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 22, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

The Goonies: A group of childhood friends embark on an adventure to save their homes from being foreclosed on in this classic from the 1980s. Screens at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Thursday, July 23, at The Digital Gym Cinema in North Park.

More Than Honey: Documentarian Markus Imhoof looks at the honeybee colonies in California, Switzerland, China and Australia to address growing concerns over global warming. Screens at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, July 23, at Landmark Hillcrest Cinemas.

To Catch a Thief: Cary Grant’s reformed jewel thief must return to a life of crime to prove his innocence after being framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Screens at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, July 23 and 24, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Overboard: Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn star in Garry Marshall’s comedy about a cruel heiress with amnesia who gets convinced she’s married to a lowly carpenter. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Friday, July 24, at the Portwood Pier Plaza in Imperial Beach.

The Secret of Santo Vittoria: At the height of WWII, a village known for its wine-producing prowess hides a million bottles from the advancing German army.

Screens at 7 p.m. Friday, July 24, at The Hotel Lafayette in North Park.

Fargo: You betcha, this film about murder, blackmail and clogged wood chippers is a real gem. Screens at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 25 and 26, at Cinema Under the Stars in Mission Hills.

Two Night Stand: Two young people who’ve hooked up after an online date are forced to spend another night together when a snowstorm hits. Screens at 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 27, at the San Diego Central Library in East Village.

Woman in Gold: A determined Jewish refugee takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family. Screens at 6 p.m.

Tuesday, July 28, at the Point Loma / Hervey Branch Library.

Dumb and Dumber: Boneheads Lloyd (Jim Carrey) and Harry (Jeff Daniels) bumble their way to Aspen, Colorado, only to get caught up in a criminal conspiracy.

Screens at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 29, at The Pearl Hotel in Point Loma.

For a complete listing of movies, please see

“Film Screenings” at

sdcitybeat.com under the “E vents” tab.

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 23

Music

jimmy hubbard

To hear a track, go to sdcitybeat.com and search for “High on Fire”

24 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

From left: Des Kensel, Matt Pike and Jeff Matz

#SDCityBeat

Music

notes from the smoking patio Locals Only

I

nspired and the Sleep is preparing to release a new EP. The new six-track release is titled Eyelid Kid, and it’s due for release in October in CD and digital formats (a vinyl release is likely to come later). Eyelid Kid follows the local indie outfit’s previous EP, 2014’s Coming Up for Air, but in a phone interview with CityBeat, singer/songwriter Max Greenhalgh says that it wasn’t originally going to be released under the Inspired and the Sleep name.

“These songs were intended for a totally different project,” he says. “Eyelid Kid was going to be the name of the project but we got a cease-and-desist letter from someone who already had the name, so we decided to revert back to the Inspired project.”

The band has already released two songs from the EP, “Time Travel” and “Sleeps Well on Knives,” which premiered on Spin and Noisey (Vice’s music blog), respectively.

And there’s a change in tone from the band’s prior releases, which Greenhalgh says is the reason why he and multi-instrumentalist Bryce Outcault almost went with a different name for the project.

“The songs sounded a little different. It’s a similar style of songwriting, but it was just darker,” he says.

“There was a different aesthetic. It was just kind of its own thing.”

The two songs that have been released thus far have videos, and there are three more that will be released between now and the EP’s street date. The band reached out to independent filmmakers from

Inspired and the Sleep

all over the world, including locales such as Brazil, New York City, Australia and the UK. And though Greenhalgh won’t reveal too much about the upcoming videos, he’s pleased with the result.

“We’re really happy with how everything came out,” he says.

Inspired and the Sleep will play at Soda Bar on Saturday, Aug. 1.

—Jeff Terich

ALBUM REVIEW Sledding with Tigers Come On and Slam (Antique)

I

’ve never seen Space Jam. At the time of the film’s release in 1996, I was probably too old to appreciate a film about intergalactic basketball games starring Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes characters. All I remember is the R. Kelly song, “I Believe I Can Fly.” Still, the movie seems to have some kind of nostalgic cachet for hipsters of a certain age. And while I remember when Michael Jordan hit that shot in the 1998 NBA Finals, folks like my girlfriend do not. She does, however, remember Space Jam as “a fucking masterpiece” and “definitely the biggest highlight of Michael Jordan’s career.”

Considering these facts, I may be unqualified to review Come On and Slam, a concept album about Space Jam by local folkpunkers Sledding with Tigers.

Dan Faughnder, the band’s singer and main creative force, joked on Twitter in 2014 that he’d write the album if a petition to save the Che Café was retweeted 1,000 times. It only took a day to reach 1,000 and a year later, Faughnder has delivered on his promise.

Whether you’ve seen the movie or not, Tigers

#SDCityBeat

have long been one of San Diego’s best kept musical secrets and it says a lot about Faughnder’s songwriting ability that he could take such a whimsical concept and still churn out seven listenable and downright infectious pop-folk songs. I’m sure there’s no other local singer-songwriter capable of making a ridiculously catchy mariachi-folk song (“Retirement”) about Jordan’s retiring in 1993 from basketball to play baseball. Nor do I think any other local musicians could compose a heart-wrenching ballad about the Danny DeVito-voiced villain, Mr. Swackhammer. And I defy anyone, fan of the film or not, to listen to the album closer, “The Big Game,” and not have the chorus stuck in their head for days.

Come On and Slam has been getting a lot of attention on the web. And while the music has taken a backseat to the clickbaitworthiness of the story, I can only hope that the album serves as a primer for people discovering the rest of the Sledding with Tigers catalog. To paraphrase R., I believe they can fly and this record is but proof of their creative wingspan.

—Seth Combs July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 25

Music

Jeff Terich

If I were u A music insider’s weekly agenda

Wednesday, July 22

Invisibles @ House of Blues. Venezuela’s Los Amigos Invisibles caught my attenPLAN A: Blackalicious, 9 Theory, Real tion back in the ’90s with a laid-back funk J Wallace, DJs Artistic and Tramlife @ track called “Sexy,” and they just keep that Belly Up Tavern. Blackalicious hasn’t been funk flowing. If your ass needs to move terribly prolific over the last decade, but this weekend, move it on over to this show. the catalog of these hip-hop legends still BACKUP PLAN: Subtropics, Dark Seas, holds up, thanks to their laid-back beats The Bad Vibes @ The Hideout. and dazzling wordplay. PLAN B: Between the Buried and Me, Animals as Leaders, The Contortionist @ Observatory North Sunday, July 26 Park. Between the Buried and Me are a sort PLAN A: Heems, Pictureplane, Gramof hybrid of hardcore and prog-rock, and matical B and the B-Verbs @ The Casdefinitely not the most accessible band in bah. Heems used to be an emcee in the the world. But if you’re in for a brutal chal- ultra-clever but short-lived group Das Raclenge, this is the show to go to. BACKUP ist, but his solo material shows even more PLAN: Gloomsday, Bronto, Melvus @ versatility. Get there a little bit early for the peculiar dance music of Pictureplane, and Soda Bar. Grammatical B’s hip-hop mischief. PLAN B: Bonobo (DJ set), Lee K @ Quartyard.

Thursday, July 23 Bonobo is making a return trip to San DiPLAN A: The Adolescents, Weirdos, The ego this fall for the second edition of the Creepy Creeps @ Belly Up Tavern. If you CRSSD festival, but this week he’s doing a like punk, then you should already know special DJ set downtown at Quartyard. Be The Adolescents, whose debut album was prepared to dance. one of the early templates for hardcore punk. They make the trip to San Diego about once a year, so make sure to attend Monday, July 27 the annual mosh-pit reunion. PLAN B: PLAN A: Haunted Summer, Le ChaSoul Asylum, Meat Puppets, The Sick- teau, Awahnichi, Nite Lapse @ Soda Bar. string Outlaws @ House of Blues. I was There’s a rave called Haunted Summer in never the biggest Soul Asylum fan, though L.A., but this isn’t that. This is a dreamy I’ll concede that “Somebody to Shove” is a electronic band with cool atmosphere, and hell of a tune. But I’ll definitely rep for The local favorites Le Chateau are opening, so Meat Puppets, who have been making great don’t miss ‘em. music for more than three decades.

Friday, July 24

Tuesday, July 28

PLAN A: Melt Banana, Torche, Hot PLAN A: Joseph Arthur, Grampadrew Nerds @ The Casbah. Melt Banana is a and the Gut Strings, C. Gibbs @ The Casnoisecore band from Japan bah. Joseph Arthur recently released an that’s been making some album of Lou Reed covers, but he’s written truly crazy sounds since more than his share of great, folky inthe ’90s, and Torche is die rock songs. I’m a fan of 2002’s a sludge metal band Redemption’s Son, but the man’s from Miami with catalog goes pretty deep. BACKhooks that Foo UP PLAN: Eukaryst, Ashen Fighters would Earth, Sentinel, Calamitous kill for. ToIntent @ Soda Bar. gether they’re one of the best bills in town Saturday, July 25 all week. Don’t PLAN A: “Exchange No. 3” w/ Bit miss it!

Maps, Island Boy, Other Bodies, Quali, Spooky Cigarette, Low Points @ The Merrow. Local label Field Trips is having a special night of music, art and the release of a new zine, and it just happens to be loaded with great bands. I’d highlight them, but all six are great, so get there early and get comfortable.

PLAN B: Los Amigos Heems

26 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 27

Music

Concerts HOT! NEW! FRESH!

Morrissey (Observatory, 8/21), POD, Hoobastank (HOB, 8/22), Craft Spells (The Hideout, 9/7), Vintage Trouble (Irenic, 10/1), Empress Of (Soda Bar, 10/1), Agent Orange (Soda Bar, 10/2), ‘CRSSD Festival’ w/ Flaming Lips, TV on the Radio, Giorgio Moroder, Jamie xx (Waterfront Park, 10/10-11), Dar Williams (BUT, 10/11), Acid King (Brick by Brick, 10/16), Marilyn Manson (HOB, 10/26), ‘Night of the Shred’ w/ Rwake, Torche, Windhand (Quartyard, 10/31), No Knife (Casbah, 10/31), Jonny Lang (BUT, 11/3), Bob Schneider (BUT, 11/6), The Menzingers, meWithoutYou (Observatory, 11/10), City and Colour (HOB, 11/16), Minus the Bear (Observatory, 11/21), Rise Against (Soma, 11/22).

GET YER TICKETS Ryn Weaver (Irenic, 8/10), Nicki Minaj (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 8/13), Cold Cave (The Hideout, 8/14), Raekwon and Ghostface Killah (HOB, 8/16), Metz (Casbah, 8/19), The Drums (Irenic, 8/20), Savages (Casbah, 8/23), Melvins (Casbah, 8/27), Miguel (Observatory, 9/1), Dam-Funk (Casbah, 9/4), The Psychedelic Furs, The Church (Observatory, 9/9), Ariana Grande (Sleep Train Amphitheatre, 9/9), The Get Up Kids (Observatory, 9/10), Johnette Napolitano (Casbah, 9/10), ZZ Top (Humphreys, 9/13), Kamasi Washington (Soda Bar, 9/13), Wavves (Observatory, 9/15), Hum, Min-

28 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

eral (BUT, 9/16), Mobb Deep (Observatory, 9/16), Mew (Observatory, 9/17), KEN Mode (Soda Bar, 9/20), Glass Animals (SOMA, 9/21), Future Islands (Observatory, 9/22), Shamir (Irenic, 9/22), Titus Andronicus (The Irenic, 9/24), Death Cab for Cutie (Open Air Theatre, 9/25), Duran Duran (Open Air Theatre, 9/27), Swervedriver (Casbah, 9/28), Tove Lo (Observatory, 9/28), Peaches (BUT, 10/1), Beirut (Open Air Theater, 10/6), Garbage (Humphreys, 10/6), Xavier Rudd and the United Nations (Observatory, 10/8), alt-j (Open Air Theatre, 10/13), Twin Shadow (BUT, 10/14), Florence and the Machine (Viejas Arena, 10/14), Of Monsters and Men (Open Air Theater, 10/17), Janet Jackson (Viejas Arena, 10/17), FIDLAR (Observatory, 10/17), The Black Lips, Ariel Pink (Observatory, 10/18), My Morning Jacket (Open Air Theatre, 10/19), Eagles of Death Metal (BUT, 10/21), Mudhoney (Casbah, 10/24), Natalie Prass (Soda Bar, 10/24), The Neighbourhood (HOB, 10/27), Shakey Graves (Observatory, 10/28), Tobias Jesso Jr. (BUT, 10/28), Madonna (Valley View Casino Center, 10/29), Ghost (Observatory, 10/30), Of Montreal (The Irenic, 11/5), Leon Bridges (Observatory, 11/6), The Fall of Troy, Kylesa (Irenic, 11/10), Desaparecidos (BUT, 11/11), Yo La Tengo (Observatory, 11/12), Youth Lagoon (BUT, 11/14), Squeeze (HOB, 11/15).

July Wednesday, July 22 Between the Buried and Me at Observatory North Park. Blackalicious at Belly Up Tavern.

Soul Asylum, Meat Puppets at House of Blues.

Friday, July 24 Katchafire at Belly Up Tavern. Eukaryst at Soda Bar. Bongripper at Brick by Brick. The Wailers at Del Mar Racetrack.

Saturday, July 25 The Lonely Biscuits at Soda Bar. Iration at Open Air Theatre. Pokey Lafarge at The Casbah. The Offspring at Del Mar Racetrack.

Sunday, July 26 The Ataris at House of Blues. Bruce Cockburn at Belly Up Tavern. Jim Gaffigan at Humphreys by the Bay. Heems at The Casbah.

Monday, July 27 Ky-Mani Marley at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, July 28 Melt Banana, Torche at The Casbah.

Wednesday, July 29 Melt Banana, Torche at The Casbah.

Andrea Gibson at Belly Up Tavern. Say Anything at House of Blues. Rasputina at Soda Bar.

Thursday, July 30 Tokio Hotel at House of Blues. The Aggrolites at Belly Up Tavern. Spank Rock at Soda Bar. High on Fire, Pallbearer at The Casbah (sold out). Stiff Little Fingers at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, July 23 The Adolescents at Belly Up Tavern.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 30

#SDCityBeat

#SDCityBeat

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 29

Music Friday, July 31 Lucy’s Fur Coat at The Casbah. Crystal Method at Del Mar Racetrack.

August Saturday, Aug. 1 Lucy’s Fur Coat at The Casbah. Ed Ghost Tucker at Soda Bar. Stephen Stills at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). ‘Reggae Fest’ w/ Ziggy Marley at Del Mar Racetrack.

Sunday, Aug. 2 Stephen Stills at Belly Up Tavern (sold out). Coliseum at Soda Bar. Darius Rucker at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Bill Maher at Humphreys by the Bay. Juanes at Civic Theatre.

Monday, Aug. 3 Milky Chance at Soma. Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at Belly Up Tavern.

Tuesday, Aug. 4 Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo at Belly Up Tavern. Tame Impala at Observatory North Park (sold out).

Wednesday, Aug. 5 Hurray For the Riff Raff at Belly Up Tavern.

Thursday, Aug. 6 Anthony Raneri at House of Blues Voodoo Room. Echo and the Bunnymen at Humphreys by the Bay. Mike Pinto at Belly Up Tavern.

Friday, Aug. 7 Super Diamond at Belly Up Tavern. Thievery Corporation at Del Mar Racetrack.

30 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

Saturday, Aug. 8 Fall Out Boy, Wiz Khalifa at Sleep Train Amphitheatre. Ilya at The Casbah. Idina Menzel at Open Air Theatre. Weekend at The Hideout.

Sunday, Aug. 9 Jake Miller at House of Blues. Big Ups at Soda Bar.

Monday, Aug. 10 Langhorne Slim and the Law at Belly Up Tavern. !!! at The Casbah. Ryn Weaver at The Irenic.

Tuesday, Aug. 11 Kevin Costner and Modern West at Belly Up Tavern.

Wednesday, Aug. 12 The Alabama Shakes at Open Air Theatre (sold out). Buddy Guy at Belly Up Tavern. Hot Chip at Soma. La Luz at Soda Bar.

Thursday, Aug. 13 Nicki Minaj at Sleep Train Amphitheatre.

rCLUBSr

Fri: Leonard Patton. Sat: Darryl Walker.

Air Conditioned Lounge, 4673 30th St, Normal Heights. airconditionedbar.com.

Wed: ‘Future House’ w/ DJs Los Yanez, Kinohou, Craig Chambers,Vinassi, Pro-K. Thu: ‘DIVE’ w/ DJs Paul Najera. Fri: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sat: ‘Juicy’ w/ Mike Czech. Sun: ‘Church’ w/ DJs Bass Exotic, Karma, Vinnassi.

American Comedy Co., 818 B Sixth Ave, Downtown. americancomedyco. com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Dov Davidoff. Fri: Dov Davidoff. Sat: Dov Davidoff.

Sun: Dov Davidoff.

Bang Bang, 526 Market St, Downtown. facebook.com/BangBangSanDiego. Fri: Miami Horror DJs. Sat: Hunter Siegel.

Bar Pink, 3829 30th St, North Park. barpink.com. Wed: ‘Funked Out’ w/ DJ L. Thu: Lord Howler, Saint Shameless.

Fri: ‘80s v. 90s’ w/ DJs Vaughn Avakian, Heather Hardcore. Sat: DJ L. Sun: ‘Rat Sabbath’. Mon: Tori Roze and the Hot Mess. Tue: ‘Tiki Tuesday’.

Bassmnt, 919 Fourth Ave, Downtown. bassmntsd.com. Fri: Vice. Sat: Gladiator.

Beaumont’s, 5662 La Jolla Blvd, La Jolla. brocktonvilla.com/beaumonts. html. Thu: Simeon Flick Duo. Fri: John Stanley King. Sat: Jones Revival. Sun: Kayla Hope.

710 Beach Club, 710 Garnet Ave, Pacific Beach. 710bc.com. Wed: Vudu Fly. Thu: Karaoke. Fri: Superunloader. Sat: Timothy H and the Soul Shine Band, Sando and the Irie Vibrations. Sun: Karaoke.

Mon: DJ Royale.

Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave, Solana Beach. bellyup.com. Wed: Blackalicious, 9 Theory, Rael J Wallace. Thu: The Adolescents, The Weirdos, Creepy Creeps.

Fri: Katchafire, Nattali Rize, Notis. Sat: Wild Child, Blow by Blow. Sun: Bruce Cockburn. Mon: Ky-Mani Marley, Major Myjah.

Tue: Easy Star All Stars, The Movement.

98 Bottles, 2400 Kettner Blvd. Ste. 110, Little Italy. 98bottlessd.com. Thu: Paws 4 Art.

Boar Cross’n, 390 Grand Ave, Carlsbad. boarcrossn.net. Fri: ‘Club Musae’.

Brass Rail, 3796 Fifth Ave, Hillcrest. thebrassrailsd.com. Fri: ‘Hip Hop Fridayz’.

Sat: ‘Sabado en Fuego’ w/ DJs XP, KA. Sun: ‘Soiree’. Mon: ‘Manic Monday’ w/ DJs Junior the Disco Punk, XP. Brick by Brick, 1130 Buenos Ave, Bay Park. brickbybrick.com. Wed: Flint, Civil Youth, True Violet. Thu: All Hail the Yeti, EnRot, Redmond, Black Chapter. Fri: Bongripper, Goya, 16. Sat: Darkmeasure, Theosis, A Hero Within, Beheading the King, Kulteir KLTR. Sun: Hellsott, Ruines Ov Abaddon, Santa Claus, Gravespell, Raise the Guns.

Cafe Sevilla, 353 Fifth Ave, Downtown. cafesevilla.com. Wed: Aro Di Santi.

Thu: Malamana. Fri: Joef and Co. Sat: Malamana. Sun: Aire. Mon: Bruno and Friends. Tue: Gio Trio.

Croce’s Park West, 2760 Fifth Ave., #100, Bankers Hill. crocesparkwest. com. Wed: Gio and Diamond. Thu: Robert Dove Quartet. Fri: Charlie Arbelaez Quartet. Sat: Sue Palmer.

Sun: Danny Green Trio. Mon: Patrick Dowling. Tue: Brad Steinwehe Jazz Orchestra.

Dirk’s Nightclub, 7662 Broadway, Lemon Grove. dirksniteclub.com. Fri: FX5.

Sat: DJ Alex.

F6ix, 526 F St., Downtown, Downtown. f6ixsd.com. Fri: DJ XP. Sat: DJ Dynamiq.

Sun: Craig Smoove.

Fluxx, 500 Fourth Ave, Downtown. fluxxsd.com. Thu: DallasK. Fri: Deejay Al. Sat: Loczi. Sun: 2 Chainz.

Gallagher’s, 5040 Newport Ave, Ocean Beach. 619-222-5303. Wed: Ciarrai. Thu: Piracy Conspiracy, DJ Reefah, TRC Soundsystem. Fri: ‘Party Wave’. Sat: Concrete Project.

#SDCityBeat

Music Hiatus Lounge, 7955 La Jolla Shores Dr, La Jolla. hotellajolla.com/la-jolla-pool/ hiatus-lounge/index.html. Sat: Distilled: A Spirited Summer Gin Fest.

The Bill Magee Blues Band. Fri: Ruby and the Dawgs. Sat: WG and the G-Men. Mon: The Groove Squad. Tue: Paddys Chicken Jam.

House of Blues, 1055 Fifth Ave, Downtown. houseofblues.com/sandiego. Wed: Parachute, Mikey Wax. Thu: Soul Asylum, Meat Puppets, Sickstring Outlaws. Fri: Hamish Anderson, Justin Forrest. Sat: Los Amigos Invisibles. Sun: The Ataris, Shady Francos, Sic Waiting.

Queen Bee’s, 3925 Ohio St, North Park. queenbeessd.com. Thu: Down the Rabbit Hole.

Kava Lounge, 2812 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. kavalounge.com. Wed: ‘Massive’.

Thu: Trance Spotters. Fri: Om Unit. Sat: Lizard Lair. Tue: ‘High Tech Tuesday’.

Kensington Club, 4079 Adams Ave, Kensington. 619-284-2848. Fri: Widows, Shark Blood, Christ Killer, Wang Dang Daddies. Sat: Hell on Heels Burlesque, The Dirtbag Surfers, The Sleepwalkers, The Grim Imperials.

Lestat’s Coffee House, 3343 Adams Ave, Normal Heights. lestats.com. Thu: Connecting Stars.

Mc P’s Irish Pub, 1107 Orange Ave, Coronado. mcpspub.com. Wed: 3 Guys Will Move U. Thu: Harmony Road. Fri: In Midlife Crisis. Sat: Trunk Monkey. Sun: Glen Smith. Mon: Gene Warren. Tue: Glen Smith.

Numbers, 3811 Park Blvd, Hillcrest. numberssd.com/. Thu: ‘Wet’. Fri: ‘Uncut’.

Sat: ‘Club Sabbat’. Tue: Karaoke Latino.

On The Rocks, 656 E St, Chula Vista. 619420-9951. Mon: Mojo Workin Mondays.

Onyx Room / Thin, 852 Fifth Ave, Downtown. onyxroom.com. Thu: ‘Tea Party Thursday’. Fri: ‘Rumba Lounge’. Sat: ‘Onyx Saturday’.

Patricks Gaslamp, 428 F St, Downtown. patricksii.com. Wed: The Upshots. Thu:

#SDCityBeat

Rich’s, 1051 University Ave, Hillcrest. richssandiego.com. Wed: DJ Kiki. Thu: DJ Kiki. Fri: DJs Drew G, Will Z. Sat: DJs Taj, K-Swift. Sun: DJ Hektik.

Riviera Supper Club, 7777 University Ave, La Mesa. rivierasupperclub.com.

Wed: Jason Hanna. Thu: Michael Lille.

Fri: Black Market III. Sat: Electric Mojo Men. Tue: Karaoke.

Seven Grand, 3054 University Ave, North Park. sevengrandbars.com/sd.

Wed: Gilbert Castellanos Latin jam. Thu: Red Fox Tails. Fri: Soul Organization.

Sat: Jimmy Ruelas.

Side Bar, 536 Market St, Downtown. sidebarsd.com. Wed: DJ Scooter. Thu: Vince Delano. Fri: Epic Twelve. Sat: DJ Slowhand.

Sun: ‘Five/Ten’ w/ Dela Chapelle.

Soda Bar, 3615 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. sodabarmusic.com.

Wed: Gloomsday, Bronto, Melvus. Thu: Sticky Fingers, Social Club, Taurus Authority. Fri: Eukaryst, Ashen Earth, Sentinel, Calamitous Intent. Sat: The Lonely Biscuits, The Routine, Crucial Blend. Sun: Emmanuel Jal, Tanika Charles. Mon: Haunted Summer, Le Chateau, Awahnichi, Nite Lapse.

Tue: The Family Crest, The Lonely Wild.

SOMA, 3350 Sports Arena Blvd, Midway. somasandiego.com. Thu: Upon A Burning Body, Dance Gavin Dance, A Skylit Drive, iwrestledabearonce, Within The Ruins, Oceano, Dayshell, Chasing Safety. Sat: Oceanside Sound System, Papa’s Piranhas, Real Big Tits, Local Habit, Brass Hysteria.

Spin, 2028 Hancock St, Midtown. spinnightclub.com. Fri: Behrouz.

Sycamore Den, 3391 Adams Ave, Normal Heights. sycamoreden.com. Thu: Rhythm and the Method. Sun: The Yes Team.

The Balboa, 1863 Fifth Ave, Bankers Hill.

619-955-8525. Fri: Downs Family, The Screamin Yeehaws. Sat: Gayle Skidmore, Minor Birds, Back Down South.

The Bancroft, 9143 Campo Rd, Spring Valley. 619-469-2337. Wed: The Darin Caine Hellhound Express. Thu: ‘Club 80s’. Fri: Captian Algebra, Fake Tides, Beach Goons, Bad Kids.

The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd, Midtown. casbahmusic.com. Wed: Federico Aubele, Creature and the Woods. Thu: Alpha Rev Unplugged, Uncle Lucius, Drew Chadwick. Fri: Joseph Arthur, Grampadrew and the Gut Strings, C. Gibbs. Sat: Pokey LaFarge, Quiet Life. Sun: Heems, Pictureplane, Grammatical B and the B-Verbs.

Mon: Omega Three, Los Hollywood. Tue: Melt Banana, Torche, Hot Nerds.

The Hideout, 3519 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. thehideoutsd.com. Sat: Subtropics, Dark Seas, Bad Vibes.

The Merrow, 1271 University Ave, Hillcrest. theMerrow.com. Wed: Star Party, Tiger Heroes. Thu: Le Chateau, MRCH, The Heartbeat Trail, Cloud Mammoth. Fri: Taurus Authority, Parker and the Numberman, iD the Poet, Emphasize, Ceezo, DJ Tramlife. Sat: ‘Exchange No. 3’ w/ Bit Maps, Island Boy, Other Bodies, Quali, Spooky Cigarette, Low Points. Sun: Northern American, Spectacular Spectacular, Bad and the Ugly, The Darrows. Tue: Country Rockin Rebels, Homesick Hitchers.

The Office, 3936 30th St, North Park. officebarinc.com. Wed: ‘Friends Chill’. Thu: ‘No Limits’ w/ DJ Myson King. Fri: ‘After

Hours’ w/ DJs Adam Salter, Kid Wonder.

Sat: ‘Strictly Business’ w/ DJs Kanye Asada, Gabe Vega. Sun: ‘Uptown Top Ranking’. Tue: ‘Trapped’.

The Tin Roof, 401 G Street, Gaslamp. tinroofbars.com/Home/SanDiego. Wed: Pat Hilton and the Mann. Thu: Cassie B Project. Fri: K. Emeline Band. Sat: Coriander.

Sun: ‘G Street Sessions’. Mon: Acropolis Showcase. Tue: The Prada Project.

Til-Two Club, 4746 El Cajon Blvd, City Heights. tiltwoclub.com. Fri: ‘Sleepwalking’. Sat: Sewage, Sculpins, Systematic Abuse, Splintr.

Tio Leo’s, 5302 Napa St, Bay Park. tioleos.com. Wed: Gino and the Lone Gunmen. Thu: Nathan James. Fri: Pleazure. Sat: Full Strength Funk Band. Tue: Zydeco Blowout.

Tower Bar, 4757 University Ave, City Heights. thetowerbar.com. Wed: ‘The Ratt’s Revenge’ w/ DJs Mikey Ratt, Tiki Thomas. Fri: Gentlemen Prefer Blood.

Sat: Tape Heads, Wang Dang Daddies.

Ux31, 3112 University Ave, North Park. u31bar.com. Thu: ‘Throwback Thursday’.

Fri: DJ Bodyrawk. Sat: DJ Junior the DiscoPunk. Sun: TRC Soundsystem. Mon: DJ Kid Wonder. Tue: Karaoke.

Whistle Stop, 2236 Fern St, South Park. whistlestopbar.com. Wed: Kenseth Thibideau, Nathan Hubbard. Thu: ‘Not Happy’ w/ DJ Jon Blaj. Sat: ‘Booty Bassment’ w/ DJs Dimitri, Rob. Sun: Growing Pains.

Winstons, 1921 Bacon St, Ocean Beach. winstonsob.com. Wed: Open mic. Thu: Karikatura, Afrojazziacs. Fri: Zach Deputy, The Mark Sexton Band. Sat: KARMA, Bass Exotic, Memo, Rex, Speakerghost, Tommy Dubs, Volz, Janayc. Sun: Karaoke.

July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 31

Last Words

Brendan Emmett Quigley

Beginner puzzle Across 1. Frank Ocean’s label 7. Cray cray 11. Rave tent VIPs 14. “Me! Me!” 15. Soap named after a rock 16. Moose cousin 17. Gainers from Garfield’s nemesis?

19. NBA star Hibbert 20. “Falling Skies” channel 21. Greek T 22. Flightless bird 24. Roman emperor who’s 100% sure?

29. Texas home of the Dr Pepper Museum 32. Action film arm 33. 154, alphanumerically?

34. Hard rock 36. Fanciness, in slang 38. “Sudo make ___ sandwich” (classic XKCD punchline) 39. Two days spent with a chemical weapon?

42. Ballerina’s perch 43. Must, informally 44. “The Flea” poet 45. She’s doomed alongside Joseph and Estelle in “No Exit” 47. Slice of baloney 48. The teensiest bit 49. Part of a Greek sea spirit’s hospital that’s no longer functioning?

54. Uncle ___ (rice) 55. Pollution-battling org.

56. Brah 59. Really really small 61. Thing that keeps a geek running?

65. With 5-Down, “We’re on for Friday!”

66. Character who said “But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve” Last week’s answers

32 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

67. Zap in the microwave, say 68. Gangster’s rod 69. “Anything ___?”

70. Stereo setting

Down 1. By ___ of (via) 2. Tree of Life garden 3. Sumter or Knox 4. Comedian Gaffigan 5. See 65-Across 6. Grinding tooth 7. Boxer known for conscientious objection 8. Cuban player, for short 9. Massive 10. Whole-grain cereal brand 11. #NotAllMen, for instance 12. First person to have the #1 album and #1 movie in the same week, briefly 13. Vapor trail’s spot 18. Rock’s Sparks, e.g.

23. “You get the idea” 24. Punishment that doesn’t really carry much weight in the age of smartphones, tablets, and laptops 25. One whose “humor” induces wincing 26. Conductor Seiji 27. City where Marie Antoinette was born 28. Gave the slip to 29. Wish to participate 30. Time to start cruising 31. Pro athlete’s personal benchmark 35. Brain test, briefly 36. “Gymnopédies” composer Erik 37. Last letter, to the Guardian 40. Sticker of approval 41. Zen master’s riddle 46. “Got me?”

50. Certain belly button 51. Social debutante 52. Dizzying visuals 53. Monthly utility 56. See 64-Down 57. River through Russia 58. Data measure 59. Drag queen’s cover up 60. “When do we get there?” stat 62. Some NFL linesmen 63. Unknown man 64. With 56-Down, “Doctor Who” channel, affectionately

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July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 33

34 · San Diego CityBeat · July 22, 2015

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July 22, 2015 · San Diego CityBeat · 35